[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30799-30800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13308]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Notice of a Waiver of Section 1605 of the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for Poplar School District, Poplar, MT

ACTION: Notice of a Waiver of Section 1605 of the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) for Poplar School District, Poplar, 
Montana.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, the Department of Education (the Department) 
announces its waiver of the Buy American requirements in section 
1605(a) of the ARRA (Buy American Requirements) for the Poplar School 
District in Poplar, Montana (Poplar District) and the justification for 
this waiver. This waiver permits use of imported T8 4-foot electronic 
ballasts in the Poplar District's lighting project, which is supported 
with Impact Aid funds appropriated under the ARRA.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department provided Poplar District with 
an Impact Aid ARRA formula grant for school construction activities 
authorized under section 8007(a) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, as amended. The Poplar District proposes to use 
these funds for a lighting project, but reports that the particular 
lights needed (T8 4-foot electronic ballasts) for this construction 
project are not produced in the United States.
    In accordance with section 1605(c) of the ARRA, the Department 
hereby provides notice that it is granting a waiver of the Buy American 
Requirements for the Poplar District's lighting project. This notice 
constitutes the detailed written justification that the Department is 
required to publish in instances when it grants such a waiver pursuant 
to section 1605(b) of the ARRA.
    Section 1605(a) of the ARRA requires that none of the appropriated 
funds 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 are produced in the United 
States. The ARRA further provides that this requirement does not apply, 
and that a waiver may be granted, when the head of the Federal 
department or agency involved finds that: (1) Applying these 
requirements would be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) iron, 
steel, and 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 relevant 
manufactured goods produced in the United States will increase the 
overall cost of the project by more than 25 percent.
    The Secretary has determined that a section 1605(b) waiver of the 
Buy American Requirements is appropriate for the Poplar District's 
lighting project because, based on the Department's research, the 
particular lights needed for this project are not manufactured in the 
United States. The Department bases this determination on information 
provided by the Poplar District as well as the Department's own 
research. The Poplar District has provided information to the 
Department documenting that there are no T8 4-foot electronic ballast 
manufacturers in the United States. In addition, based on the 
Department's own research (Internet product literature searches) and to 
the best of the Department's knowledge at the time of its review of the 
Poplar District's waiver request, there do not appear to be U.S.-
manufactured T8 4-foot electronic ballasts available to the Poplar 
District for the ARRA-funded lighting project.
    Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic 
recovery, in part, by funding current infrastructure construction, and 
not to delay projects that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring the 
revision of standards and specifications or a new bidding process. The 
imposition of the Buy American Requirements on such otherwise eligible 
projects would result in unreasonable delay, and to further delay 
construction would be in direct conflict with a fundamental economic 
purpose of the ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
    The Department has reviewed the Poplar District's waiver request 
and has determined that the supporting documentation is sufficient to 
demonstrate that a waiver is justified under section 1605(b)(2) of the 
ARRA. Having established both a proper basis to specify the particular 
good required for this project, and that this manufactured good is not 
available from a producer in the United States, the Poplar District is 
hereby granted a waiver from the Buy American Requirements reflected in 
section 1605(a) of the ARRA for the purchase of T8 4-foot electronic 
ballasts using ARRA funds as specified in the Poplar District's 
request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristen Walls-Rivas, Impact Aid 
Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 
Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 260-1357 or via Internet: 
[email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339. Individuals 
with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible format 
(e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on 
request to the program contact person listed in this section.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister. To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
this site.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO

[[Page 30800]]

Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Authority: Section 1605 of the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act, Public Law 111-5.

    Dated: May 28, 2010.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-13308 Filed 6-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P