[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59172-59174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27617]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8981-6]


Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy 
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
to the Town of Newburyport, MA

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 Town of Newburyport, Massachusetts (``Town'') 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 Town's proposed 
wastewater treatment facility improvements will include replacement of 
the existing belt filter presses for sludge generated at the plant. 
Based upon information submitted by the Town and its consultants, it 
was determined that two 4-channel rotary press sludge dewatering units, 
manufactured by Fournier Industries of Quebec, Canada, will meet the 
Town'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 Town, through its 
consulting engineers, 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 two 4-channel rotary press sludge dewatering units, 
manufactured by Fournier Industries, by the Town, as specified in its 
August 13, 2009 request, as part of the improvements to the wastewater 
treatment facility.

DATES: Effective Date: November 3, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Spinale, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1547, or Katie Connors,

[[Page 59173]]

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 Town of Newburyport (``Town''), Massachusetts for 
the purchase of two 4-channel rotary press sludge dewatering units, 
manufactured by Fournier Industries of Quebec, Canada. It has been 
determined that this rotary press meets the Town'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 that at this time meet the specific 
design criteria established for this unit in the Town'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 with the 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 Town has requested a waiver from the Buy American Provision for 
the purchase of the foreign made rotary press sludge dewatering units 
as part of its wastewater treatment plant improvement project. The 
purchase of the new rotary sludge presses is intended to replace the 
existing belt filter presses at the wastewater treatment plant. The 
cost of the overall upgrade and replacement of the Town's wastewater 
treatment plant is estimated at $24.4 million, of which the cost of the 
two foreign made rotary sludge press units is $660,000.
    The key selection criteria established by the Town and its 
consulting engineers for the sludge dewatering equipment include:
     Maintain dry cake solids between 18% and 20% by weight.
     Reduce odors and improve working conditions for operators 
by minimizing exposure to odorous and hazardous gases released from the 
sludge as well as exposure to bio-aerosols and pathogens. To achieve 
this goal, enclosed dewatering equipment is required.
     Allow for automatic adjustment for variation in feed 
solids concentrations and sludge mix ratios to provide consistent and 
optimum cake solids.
     Allow for unattended, automatic operation.
     Allow for backup capacity during periods of equipment 
failure and routine maintenance.
    As part of the review of potentially viable sludge dewatering 
units, three technologies were evaluated by the Town and their 
consultants: (1) Belt filter press, (2) centrifuge system; and (3) 
screw/rotary press. Of the three technologies, it was determined that 
the rotary sludge press is the preferred technology because it ranked 
the highest in terms of meeting the key criteria highlighted above. In 
particular, the rotary press manufactured by Fournier Industries was 
identified as a technically and economically feasible unit meeting all 
of the selection criteria established as part of the design 
requirements. The Fournier Rotary Press is the preferred technology for 
installation at the Town's wastewater treatment plant because of the 
following advantages:
     High cake solids concentration.
     Low odor emissions due to the enclosed design.
     Provides for continuous operation and has the flexibility 
to increase capacity based on influent flow.
     Low maintenance due to the slow rotational speed, 
requiring minimal operator attention.
     Low energy requirements resulting in low operation and 
maintenance costs.
     Each channel is an independent self-contained modular unit 
which can be interchanged with other same model rotary presses.
     Low noise and vibration output due to low operations 
speeds.
     Compact size resulting in smaller building and room 
footprint requirements.
     Filtration elements within each channel are of a non-
clogging design which does not require washwater during operation.
    The technical memorandum prepared by the Town's consulting 
engineers indicates that of the other manufacturers that have similar 
dewatering units, only the Fournier Industries Rotary Press achieves 
the design criteria established for this project. The project 
specifications stipulate that the rotary press be capable of meeting 
the following criteria:
     Design Load: 9,000 dry lb/d.
     Design Load: 200 dry lb/h/channel.
     Inlet Percent Solids: 2-3.5%.
     Primary Sludge/WAS ratio: 70/30.
     Anticipated Dry Cake Solids: 18-28%.
    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 for this proposed project. One of the biggest design 
constraints is available space for the sludge dewatering equipment. The 
existing wastewater treatment plant is located near residential homes 
on an extremely small piece of land. The domestic alternative can only 
provide one or two channel rotary press units and would therefore 
require at least four 2-channel units to meet the specifications and 
match the production of two 4-channel Fournier Rotary Presses. Further, 
the use of additional domestic units will result in a larger footprint 
as opposed to the footprint of the two foreign made rotary presses. For 
these reasons, the Fournier Industries Rotary Sludge Presses are the 
only units at the present time that are acceptable in terms of meeting 
the design specifications and the space constraints of this 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 Town 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 the sludge 
dewatering unit. The evaluation of all of the submitted documentation 
by EPA's technical review team supports the Town's claim

[[Page 59174]]

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 Town'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 Town 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 Town 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, the Town 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 two specified Fournier Industries 4-channel rotary 
press sludge dewatering units documented in Town's waiver request 
submittal dated August 13, 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: November 3, 2009.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. E9-27617 Filed 11-16-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P