[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 143 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44138-44139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-19012]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Notice of Granted Buy America Waiver

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of granted Buy America waiver.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This waiver allows ticket vending machine manufacturers to 
install the Cash Code bill-handling unit and count it as domestic for 
purposes of Buy America compliance. It is predicated on the non-
availability of the item domestically and was granted on June 11, 2003, 
for the period of two years. This notice shall insure that the public 
is aware of this waiver.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meghan G. Ludtke, FTA Office of Chief 
Counsel, Room 9316, (202) 366-1936 (telephone) or (202) 366-3809 (fax).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: See waiver below.

    Issued: July 22, 2003.
Jennifer L. Dorn,
Administrator.

June 11, 2003.

Mr. Val Levitan,
Senior V.P. Sales & Marketing, Cash Code, 553 Basaltic Road, 
Concord, Ontario Canada L4K 4W8

    Dear Mr. Levitan: This letter responds to your correspondence of 
May 8, 2003, in which you request a non-availability waiver of the 
Buy America requirements for certain bill-handling units 
manufactured for use in ticket vending machines. These bill-handling 
units accept, validate, and mechanically escrow banknotes of various 
denominations until a transaction is complete. For the reasons 
below, I have determined that a waiver is appropriate here.
    The Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) requirements 
concerning domestic preference for federally funded transit projects 
are set forth in 49 U.S.C. 5323(j).

[[Page 44139]]

However, section 5323(j)(2)(B) states that those requirements shall 
not apply if the item or items being procured are not produced in 
the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a 
satisfactory quality. The implementing regulation also provides that 
a waiver may be requested ``for a specific item or material that is 
used in the production of a manufactured product.'' 49 CFR 661.7(g). 
The regulations allow a bidder or supplier to request a waiver only 
if it is being sought under this section. See, 49 CFR 661.7(g) and 
49 CFR 661.9(d).
    You state that there are no U.S. manufacturers of this component 
with a functionally equivalent product. This assertion is supported 
by GFI Genfare, a ticket vending machine manufacturer and potential 
end user of this component. GFI Genfare conducted a market survey, 
the results of which affirmed that there is no U.S. manufacturer of 
an equivalent bill-handling unit. FTA also posted a request for 
comments on this matter on our website and received no comments. FTA 
has granted similar waivers to other bill-handling unit 
manufacturers, Mars Electronics and Toyocom, U.S.A., also based on 
the non-availability of a U.S. alternative.
    Based on the above-referenced information, I have determined 
that the grounds for a ``non-availability'' waiver exist. Therefore, 
pursuant to the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(2)(B), a waiver is 
hereby granted for manufacture of the BB-5001/2/3/4 bill-handling 
unit for a period of two years. In order to insure that the public 
is aware of this waiver it will be published in the Federal 
Register. If you have any questions, please contact Meghan Ludtke at 
(202) 366-1936.

 Very truly yours,
Gregory B. McBride,

Deputy Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 03-19012 Filed 7-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P