[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48556-48557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-18207]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

[FHWA Docket No. FHWA-2004-18479]


Nationwide Waiver of Buy America Requirements for Green Wire/Rod

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The FHWA is soliciting comments on a proposed nationwide 
waiver of the Buy America requirements for Green Wire/Rod. 
Specifically, based on comments received from the National Steel Bridge 
Alliance (NSBA) and Lincoln Electric Company, the FHWA has reason to 
believe that the supply from domestic sources of hot drawn mild steel 
randomly rolled into coils (commonly referred to as ``green wire/rod'') 
that can be used in the manufacturing of filler metal wire/electrode 
(filler metal) is not adequate to permit full compliance with the Buy 
America requirements.

DATE: Comments must be received on or before October 12, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Mail or hand deliver comments to the U. S. Department of 
Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001, or submit electronically at 
http://dms.dot.gov/submit, or fax comments to (202) 493-2251. All 
comments should include the docket number that appears in the heading 
of this document. All comments received will be available for 
examination and copying at the above address from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Those desiring 
notification of receipt of comments must include a self-addressed, 
stamped postcard or you may print the acknowledgement page that appears 
after submitting comments electronically. Anyone is able to search the 
electronic form of all comments

[[Page 48557]]

received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comments (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70, Pages 19477-78) or you may visit 
http://dms.dot.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jennifer Balis, (202) 493-7302, 
Office of Program Administration, HIPA, or Mr. Michael Harkins, Office 
of the Chief Counsel, HCC-30, (202) 366-4928. Office hours are from 
7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Electronic Access and Filing: You may submit or retrieve comments 
online through the Document Management System (DMS) at: http://dms.dot.gov/submit. Acceptable formats include: MS Word (versions 95 to 
97), MS Word for Mac (versions 6 to 8), Rich Text File (RTF), American 
Standard Code Information Interchange (ASCII)(TXT), Portable Document 
Format (PDF), and WordPerfect (versions 7 to 8). The DMS is available 
24 hours each day, 365 days each year. Electronic submission and 
retrieval help and guidelines are available under the help section of 
the web site.
    An electronic copy of this document may also be downloaded from the 
Government Printing Office's Electronic Bulletin Board Service at (202) 
512-1661 by using a computer, modem and suitable communications 
software. Internet users may also reach the Office of the Federal 
Register's home page at: http://www.archives.gov and the Government 
Printing Office's Web page at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara.

Background

    The ``Buy America'' requirements outlined in section 165 of the 
Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA), Pub. L. 97-424; 
96 Stat. 2097, 2136-2137, as amended, and the regulations implementing 
this section require that any iron or steel product that is permanently 
incorporated into a federally-aided highway construction project must 
be domestically manufactured. See 23 CFR 635.
    Section 165(b)(2) of the STAA allows the Secretary of 
Transportation to grant a waiver of this requirement if such materials 
and products are not produced in the United States in sufficient and 
reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality. The 
Secretary has delegated this authority to the Federal Highway 
Administrator (49 CFR 1.48(c)(19)).
    The manufacturing process for an iron or steel product includes any 
process that modifies a product's chemical content, physical size or 
shape. Under the current regulations, welding is considered a 
manufacturing process and therefore must be done domestically. In 
addition, the manufacture of the filler metals themselves are subject 
to Buy America, since they consist of ferrous materials that will, as a 
result of the welding process, become an integral part of the 
structural element to be permanently incorporated into the project. The 
filler metals can consist of a variety of raw materials, such as green 
wire/rod, strip, minerals, various alloys, and other chemicals. 
Although the FHWA has exempted raw materials from Buy America coverage 
(48 FR 53099), materials that undergo a process that alters their 
chemical content or physical size and shape are subject to Buy 
America's application.\1\ Since green wire/rod must undergo such a 
process before shipment to a welding manufacturer for further 
processing into filler metal, green wire/rod is subject to Buy America.
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    \1\ The FHWA discussed its decision to exempt raw materials from 
the Buy America requirements in the preamble of the final rule 
amending 23 CFR 635.410, published in the Federal Register on 
November 25, 1983, at 48 FR 53099. In addition, due to insufficient 
domestic supply, FHWA issued a nationwide waiver for pig iron and 
processed, palletized and reduced iron ores through the Federal 
Register at 60 FR 15478.
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    Recently, the NSBA and Lincoln Electric Company notified the FHWA 
that green wire/rod with the specific chemistry suitable for use in 
filler metal is no longer being produced domestically. Also, according 
to the NSBA, filler metal generally only comprises 0.3 percent to 0.5 
percent of typical steel fabrication costs, and 0.04 percent to 0.06 
percent of typical total project costs. Thus, considered alone, the 
cost of green wire/rod in filler metal would typically fall well below 
the minimal use percentage, which is $2500 or one-tenth of one percent 
of the total contract cost, whichever is greater (23 CFR 635.410(b)).
    However, whenever the filler metal's cost is viewed in conjunction 
with the costs of other incidental items, such as nuts and bolts, a 
contractor might risk exceeding the minimal use percentage allowance. 
Therefore, the FHWA is considering a nationwide waiver of the Buy 
America requirements for green wire/rod used on Federal-aid highway 
construction projects. This notice solicits comments on the potential 
impact of such a waiver.

Description of Proposed Action

    The basis for this proposed nationwide waiver is that green wire/
rod with the specific chemistry suitable for use in filler metal is not 
produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available 
quantities which are of a satisfactory quality (see section 165(b)(2) 
of the STAA). Therefore, imposing Buy America requirements on these 
materials is not in the public interest. The FHWA is requesting 
comments on this proposed nationwide waiver and the availability of a 
domestic supply of the materials included in the proposed waiver.

    Authority: Sec. 165 of Public Law 97-424, 96 Stat. 2097, 2136-
2137, as amended by Public Law 98-229; 98 Stat. 55, and 105 Stat. 
1914, 1933; 49 CFR 1.48(c)(19); 23 CFR 635.410.

    Issued on: August 3, 2004.
Mary E. Peters,
Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 04-18207 Filed 8-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P