[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69093-69095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-31045]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9098-1]


Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy 
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
to the North Conway, NH Water Precinct

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

[[Page 69094]]

satisfactory quality] to the North Conway, New Hampshire Water Precinct 
(NCWP) for the purchase of two SB615 Series Boilers manufactured by 
Bosch Thermotechnology of Germany. 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. Based upon information submitted by the NCWP and its 
consulting engineer, it has been determined that there are currently no 
domestic manufacturers available to meet its proposed project design 
and performance specifications. The Regional Administrator is making 
this determination based on the review and recommendations of the 
Municipal Assistance Unit. 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 foreign manufactured high efficiency boilers by the 
NCWP, as documented in its November 4, 2009 request.

DATES: Effective Date: December 16, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Chin, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1764, or Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, (617) 918-
1658, Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU), Office of Ecosystem Protection 
(OEP), U.S. EPA, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109-
3912.

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 Section 1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American 
requirements, to the North Conway, NH Water Precinct (NCWP) for the 
purchase of two SB615 Series Boilers manufactured by Bosch 
Thermotechnology of Germany. The boiler is manufactured under the brand 
name of Buderus, whose headquarters in the United States is located in 
Londonderry, NH. By incorporating high efficiency boilers into the 
design of the facility's proposed alternative energy project, it is 
estimated that 2,750 gallons of oil will be saved per year to heat the 
various buildings at the wastewater treatment facility. The estimated 
cost for each boiler is $35,000.
    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 a public works project 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 NCWP is proposing a two phase Alternative Energy project. Phase 
I involves the installation of solar panels that will augment the power 
supplied to the wastewater treatment plant and decrease the draw on the 
electrical grid. Phase II is a $1M construction project that will 
include the installation of geothermal wells that will supply 
groundwater to the facility's HVAC system. The constant temperature 
water will reduce the energy needed to heat and cool the various 
buildings of the entire wastewater treatment facility. In order to 
maximize the energy conserving potential, the NCWP has determined that 
it will also install new high efficiency boilers as part of the Phase 
II project. The existing boilers at the wastewater treatment facility 
are 14 years old, one of which is cracked, and several boiler plate 
sections need to be replaced. These boilers have an estimated rated 
84.8% combustion efficiency and 83.6% thermal efficiency. The NCWP is 
proposing to replace these existing boilers and achieve a minimum 5% 
increase in efficiency given that the technology currently exists to 
provide this energy savings.
    The design specifications for the proposed project require the 
following: A condensing oil fired boiler; rated combustion and thermal 
efficiencies exceeding 90%; performance of the boiler certified by the 
Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute; and capacity in 
the range of 1.6 to 2.0 million BTU/hour.
    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.''
    Based on our review, it has been determined that the supporting 
documentation provided by the NCWP establishes both a proper basis to 
specify a particular manufactured good, and that no domestic 
manufactured good is currently available to meet the design and 
performance specifications for the proposed project. An evaluation of 
all of the submitted documentation by EPA's technical review team 
confirms the NCWP's claim that there are currently no domestic 
manufacturers of commercial grade condensing oil fired boilers with 
rated combustion and thermal efficiencies greater than 90%. The foreign 
manufactured boiler that has been identified has a rated combustion 
efficiency of 95.2% and a thermal efficiency of 92.6%. The information 
provided is sufficient to meet the criteria necessary for a waiver of 
the Buy American provision listed under Section 1605(b)(2) of the ARRA 
and in the ``American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009'' April 28, 
2009 Memorandum: Iron, Steel, and manufactured goods are not produced 
in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities 
and of a satisfactory quality.
    Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic 
recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay 
projects that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring potential SRF eligible 
recipients, such as the NCWP, 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 March 31, 2009 Delegation of Authority Memorandum provided 
Regional Administrators with the temporary authority to issue 
exceptions to Section 1605 of the 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 NCWP 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

[[Page 69095]]

for the purchase of two foreign manufactured high efficiency boilers as 
noted in the NCWP's waiver request submittal dated November 4, 2009. 
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: December 16, 2009.
H. Curtis Spalding,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. E9-31045 Filed 12-29-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P