[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 166 (Friday, August 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44361-44363]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20798]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8950-7]


Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy 
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
to the Plymouth Village Water & Sewer District, New Hampshire

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a waiver of the Buy America 
requirements of ARRA Section 1605 under the authority of Section 
1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in 
sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory 
quality] to the Plymouth Village Water & Sewer District, New Hampshire 
(``District'') for the purchase of a foreign manufactured rotary sludge 
dewatering press. This is a project specific waiver and only applies to 
the use of the specified product for the ARRA project being proposed. 
Any other ARRA recipient that wishes to use the same product must apply 
for a separate waiver based on project specific circumstances. The 
District's proposed wastewater treatment facility improvements will 
include a replacement of the existing belt filter press for sludge 
generated at the plant. Based upon information submitted by the 
District and its consultants, it was determined that a 6 channel rotary 
press sludge dewatering unit, manufactured by Fournier Industries of 
Quebec, Canada, will meet the District's design and performance 
specifications. The Acting Regional Administrator is making this 
determination based on the review and recommendations of the Municipal 
Assistance Unit. The District through its design engineer, has provided 
sufficient documentation to support their request. The Assistant 
Administrator of the Office of Administration and Resources Management 
has concurred on this decision to make an exception to Section 1605 of 
ARRA. This action permits the purchase of a 6 channel rotary press 
sludge dewatering unit, manufactured by Fournier Industries, by the 
District, as specified in its June 26, 2009 waiver request, as part of 
the improvements to the wastewater treatment facility.

DATES: Effective Date: August 17, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Spinale, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1547, or Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, (617) 918-
1658, Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU), Office of Ecosystem Protection 
(OEP), U.S. EPA, One Congress Street, CMU, Boston, MA 02114.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), the 
EPA hereby provides notice that it is granting a project waiver of the 
requirements of Sections 1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American 
requirements, to the Plymouth Village Water & Sewer District 
(``District''), New Hampshire for the purchase of a 6 channel rotary 
press sludge dewatering unit, manufactured by Fournier Industries of 
Quebec, Canada. It has been determined that this rotary press meets the 
District's technical specifications for design and performance of a 
sludge dewatering unit as part of its wastewater treatment plant 
improvement project. Based on the information provided by the 
applicant, there are no domestically manufactured rotary sludge presses 
at this time that meet the specific design criteria established for 
this unit in the District's project.
    Section 1605 of the ARRA requires that none of the appropriated 
funds may be used for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or 
repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, 
steel, and manufactured goods used in the project is produced in the 
United States, or unless a waiver is provided to the recipient by the 
head of the appropriate agency, here the EPA. A waiver may be provided 
if EPA determines that (1) applying these requirements would be 
inconsistent

[[Page 44362]]

with public interest; (2) iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured 
goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and 
reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or (3) 
inclusion of iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods produced 
in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by 
more than 25 percent.
    The District has requested a waiver from the Buy American Provision 
for the purchase of a foreign made rotary press sludge dewatering unit 
as part of its wastewater treatment plant improvement project. The 
purchase of the new rotary sludge press is intended to replace the 
existing belt filter press which is approaching the end of its useful 
life. The estimated cost of the overall improvements to the District's 
wastewater treatment plant is estimated at $5.2 million, of which the 
cost of the foreign made rotary sludge press unit is priced at 
$330,000.
    The consulting engineers for the District set forth the following 
key criteria for evaluating sludge dewatering technologies. The various 
technologies were evaluated based on the ability to:
     Maintain the current annual average dewatered sludge cake 
solids of approximately 25% or higher.
     Improve environmental working conditions in the dewatering 
area by minimizing worker exposure to odorous and hazardous gases 
released from the sludge as well as exposure to bio-aerosols and 
pathogens. Enclosed dewatering equipment will achieve this goal.
     Automatically adjust for variation in feed solids 
concentrations and sludge mix ratios to provide consistent and optimum 
cake solids.
     Allow for unattended, automatic operation freeing up 
operators for other needed tasks.
     Keep the dewatering operation as simple as possible while 
still maintaining optimum dewatering performance.
     Allow for some degree of backup capacity during periods of 
equipment failure and routine maintenance.
     Equipment must have a proven track record of low annual 
operation and maintenance costs and reliability.
    As part of the review of potentially viable sludge dewatering 
units, four technologies were considered by the District and their 
consultants: (1) Rotary press; (2) screw press; (3) centrifuge; and (4) 
belt filter press. Of the four technologies, it was determined that the 
rotary sludge press is the desired technology because it ranked the 
highest in terms of meeting the key criteria highlighted above. The 
rotary press option, for example, has one of the lowest maintenance 
requirements due to the slow rotational speed, and has one of the 
highest degrees of redundancy. Low rotational speeds results in less 
susceptibility to wear from high grit sludge.
    The rotary press would have six parallel channels on-line with the 
ability to take one or two channels off-line for maintenance without 
having to disrupt treatment operation. The rotary press option also 
represented the lowest capital cost option that met the District's 
goals and current and future throughput capacity of 220 pounds/hour per 
channel for a total capacity of 1,100 pounds per hour, with one 
additional channel available for redundancy purposes.
    The technical memorandum prepared by the District's consulting 
engineers indicates that the rotary press technology has been use in 
the Canadian market for a number of years. The technical memorandum 
further indicates that of the other manufacturers that have similar 
dewatering units, Fournier Industries is considered the only rotary 
press manufacturer that meets the design specifications for this 
proposed project. The project specification requires that ``the rotary 
press shall have the capacity to have 6 channels mounted on the drive 
shaft with 3 on each side. The sludge shall be continuous feed, and the 
unit built to operate continuously.'' The specifications also state 
that ``the dewatering equipment shall be capable of hydraulic flow 
capacity range of 5 to 15 gpm per channel, or for a 6 channel unit, 30 
to 90 gpm of 3.0 to 5.0% thickened sludge.''
    Based on the review of available information, there is only one 
domestic manufacturer of similar rotary type presses for municipal 
sludge. However, this manufacturer only produces 1 and 2 channel rotary 
fan presses and currently cannot meet the design specifications 
required by this proposed project.
    The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ Memorandum, ``Implementation of Buy 
American provisions of Public Law 111-5, the `American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009' '' (``Memorandum''), defines reasonably 
available quantity as ``the quantity of iron, steel, or relevant 
manufactured good is available or will be available at the time needed 
and place needed, and in the proper form or specification as specified 
in the project plans and design.'' The same Memorandum defines 
``satisfactory quality'' as ``the quality of steel, iron or 
manufactured good specified in the project plans and designs.''
    The District has requested a waiver of the ARRA Buy American 
provisions on the basis of unavailability of a U.S. manufactured 
product that will meet the design and performance criteria specified 
for this sludge dewatering unit. The evaluation of all of the submitted 
documentation by EPA's technical review team supports the District's 
claim that at this time no domestic manufacturer can provide a suitable 
rotary sludge dewatering press which meets the specifications for this 
unit. Based on the information available, and to the best of our 
knowledge, there do not appear to be other rotary press sludge 
dewatering units manufactured in the United States that are available 
at this time to meet the District's design specifications and 
performance requirements for this unit.
    Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic 
recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay 
projects that are already ``shovel ready'' by requiring SRF eligible 
recipients such as the District to revise their design standards and 
specifications. The imposition of ARRA Buy American requirements in 
this case would result in unreasonable delay for this project. To delay 
this construction would directly conflict with a fundamental economic 
purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
    The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver 
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided 
by the District established both a proper basis to specify the 
particular good required and that this manufactured good was not 
available from a producer in the United States able to meet the design 
specifications for the proposed project. The information provided is 
sufficient to meet the following criteria listed under Section 1605(b) 
of the ARRA and in the April 28, 2009 Memorandum: Iron, steel, and the 
manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient 
and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality.
    The March 31, 2009 Delegation of Authority Memorandum provided 
Regional Administrators with the authority to issue exceptions to 
Section 1605 of ARRA within the geographic boundaries of their 
respective regions and with respect to requests by individual grant 
recipients.
    Having established both a proper basis to specify the particular 
good required for this project and that this manufactured good was not 
available from a producer in the United States,

[[Page 44363]]

the District is hereby granted a waiver from the Buy American 
requirements of Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5. This waiver 
permits use of ARRA funds for the purchase of the specified Fournier 
Industries 6 channel rotary press sludge dewatering unit documented in 
District's waiver request submittal dated June 26, 2009 as part of its 
wastewater treatment plant improvements. This supplementary information 
constitutes the detailed written justification required by Section 
1605(c) for waivers based on a finding under subsection (b).

    Authority:  Public Law 111-5, section 1605.

    Dated: August 17, 2009.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. E9-20798 Filed 8-27-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P