[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6387-6389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2810]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9112-4]


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 Troy, VT

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 6388]]

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 Troy, Vermont (``Town'') for the purchase of 
foreign manufactured butterfly valves and actuators for an arsenic and 
manganese removal water treatment installation project. 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 Town and its consulting engineer, it has been 
determined that there are currently no domestic manufactured butterfly 
valves and actuators available to meet its proposed specialized needs 
and project schedule. 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 foreign manufactured butterfly valves and actuators by the 
Town, as specified in its November 19, 2009 request.

DATES: Effective Date: January 29, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1764, or David Chin, 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 Town for the purchase of non-domestic manufactured 
butterfly valve and actuators to meet the Town's project schedule to 
install an for arsenic and manganese water treatment system.
    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 the 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 of Troy, Vermont (``Town'') is receiving funding from the 
VT ARRA Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to install a water 
treatment facility for arsenic and manganese removal, as well as water 
meters in the distribution system. The treatment system is a skid 
mounted, preassembled and prewired arsenic and manganese removal system 
from a U.S. manufacturer. The components of the filtration system are 
manufactured in the U.S. with the exception of the system's 
electrically actuated butterfly valves which are manufactured by Value 
Valve in Taiwan. The Town is requesting a waiver for these foreign 
manufactured valves and actuators which are standard components 
provided on the selected U.S. manufacturer's filtration treatment 
systems.
    The waiver is being requested after bid solicitation has been 
completed and construction has begun. The late request was due to 
unavailability of a domestic company able to provide the specialized 
valves and actuators according to the project schedule. The Town is 
under an enforcement action deadline by the State of Vermont to install 
and operate an arsenic removal system by April 30, 2010.
    The Town contacted several domestic manufacturers of butterfly 
valve and actuators and although some of them could provide the 
products within the project specifications, they could not do so within 
the established project schedule. In order to adhere to the April 30, 
2010 regulatory deadline, the skid system must be delivered to the 
construction site by December 2009. The domestic manufacturers could 
not produce the specialized valves and actuators needed for 
incorporation into the system within the time required. The filter 
system, including the valves and actuators, is assembled in California 
and will be freighted across the country to Troy, VT. Delaying the 
components several weeks would put their availability to the 
manufacturer at mid December to early January, depending on the 
domestic supplier. To wait for domestically available valves and 
actuators and allowing for the time necessary to assemble and test the 
complete system would have pushed delivery of the system to the end of 
January. The delay would result in the Town of Troy possibly violating 
its regulatory compliance schedule.
    An evaluation of all of the supporting documentation by EPA's 
national contractor, including results of research and communication 
with manufacturers of valves and actuators, supports and confirms the 
Town's claim that there are currently no domestic manufacturers that 
can provide specialized butterfly valves and actuators to meet the pre-
established compliance schedule.
    The consulting engineer for the Town identified three domestic 
manufacturers in the United States. The three companies could provide 
the valves and actuators. However, the shortest delivery time available 
was 6-8 weeks, with one of the companies estimating the delivery period 
to be 10-12 weeks. The supporting information for this proposed project 
includes contacts with valve and actuator manufacturers, telephone 
calls, and e-mail correspondence with domestic manufacturers. An 
independent review of the submitted documentation by EPA's national 
contractor confirmed this documentation.
    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 Town of Troy, VT, to possibly violate the 
established compliance schedule. 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 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 Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver 
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided 
by the Town

[[Page 6389]]

establishes both a proper basis to specify a particular manufactured 
good, and that the domestic manufactured good that is currently 
available cannot be delivered in the necessary timeframe 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 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 in the necessary 
timeframe, the Town of Troy, Vermont 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 non-domestic 
manufactured butterfly valves and actuators documented in Town's waiver 
request submitted to the EPA on November 19, 2009. This supplementary 
information constitutes the detailed written justification required by 
Section 1605(c) for waivers based on a finding under subsection (b).

    Authority: Pub. L. 111-5, section 1605.

    Dated: January 29, 2010.
Ira Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2010-2810 Filed 2-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P