[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 227 (Friday, November 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72822-72823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29775]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Nationwide Categorical Waivers Under Section 1605 (Buy American) 
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of limited waivers.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a 
nationwide limited waiver of the Buy American requirements of section 
1605 of the Recovery Act under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2) 
(iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in 
the United States in

[[Page 72823]]

sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory 
quality) with respect to (1) surface mounting time switches with 24-
hour program dials and single-pole-double-throw switches; (2) HVAC 
units with 8.375' W x 9.5' H x 2.72' D--Only when the application 
requires an HVAC unit with a height of 10' or less due to documented 
space constraints; (3) low temperature thermostats with a temperature 
range of 15-55 degrees Fahrenheit and manual reset; (4) Programmable 
DDC controllers for LON protocol, where an existing LON system exists 
that will not interface with other protocols without the input of 
extensive time and expense equal to or greater than the cost of the 
controllers themselves; and (5) Hardware necessary for implementation 
of Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) software for 
integration of water management and HVAC systems including: Customized 
Dell PowerEdge T610 Computer Server; Honeywell XL50UMMIPC-CBLON; 
Echelon LPR-10 42100R; Sloan--MCR231-D; Sloan--MCR140A, that 
will be used on eligible EERE-Recovery Act funded projects.

DATES: Effective Date: November 5, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Goldstein, Energy Technology 
Program Specialist, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 
(EERE), (202) 287-1553, Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 
SW., Mailstop EE-2K, Washington, DC 20585.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of the Recovery Act, 
Public Law 111-5, section 1605(b)(2), the head of a Federal department 
or agency may issue a ``determination of inapplicability'' (a waiver of 
the Buy American provision) if the iron, steel, or relevant 
manufactured good is not produced or manufactured in the United States 
in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory 
quality (``nonavailability''). On September 17, 2010, the authority of 
the Secretary of Energy to make all inapplicability determinations was 
delegated to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy (EERE), for EERE projects under the Recovery Act. 
Pursuant to this delegation the Assistant Secretary, EERE, has 
concluded that (1) surface mounting time switches with 24-hour program 
dials and single-pole-double-throw switches; (2) HVAC units with 8.375' 
W x 9.5' H x 2.72' D--Only when the application requires an HVAC unit 
with a height of 10' or less due to documented space constraints; and 
(3) low temperature thermostats with a temperature range of 15-55 
degrees Fahrenheit and manual reset; (4) Programmable DDC controllers 
for LON protocol, where an existing LON system exists that will not 
interface with other protocols without the input of extensive time and 
expense equal to or greater than the cost of the controllers 
themselves; and (5) Hardware necessary for implementation of Honeywell 
Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI) software for integration of water 
management and HVAC systems including: Customized Dell PowerEdge T610 
Computer Server; Honeywell XL50UMMIPC-CBLON; Echelon LPR-10 
42100R; Sloan--MCR231-D; Sloan--MCR140A, that will be used on 
eligible EERE-Recovery Act funded projects qualify for the 
``nonavailability'' waiver determination.
    EERE has developed a robust process to ascertain in a systematic 
and expedient manner whether or not there is domestic manufacturing 
capacity for the items submitted for a waiver of the Recovery Act Buy 
American provision. This process involves a close collaboration with 
the United States Department of Commerce National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
(MEP), in order to scour the domestic manufacturing landscape in search 
of producers before making any nonavailability determination.
    The NIST MEP has 59 regional centers with substantial knowledge of, 
and connections to, the domestic manufacturing sector. MEP uses their 
regional centers to ``scout'' for current or potential manufacturers of 
the product(s) submitted in a waiver request. In the course of this 
interagency collaboration, MEP has been able to find exact or partial 
matches for manufactured goods that EERE grantees had been unable to 
locate. As a result, in those cases, EERE was able to work with the 
grantees to procure American-made products rather than granting a 
waiver.
    Upon receipt of completed waiver requests for the five products in 
the current waiver, EERE reviewed the information provided and 
submitted the relevant technical information to the NIST MEP. The MEP 
then used their network of nationwide centers to scout for domestic 
manufacturers. The NIST MEP reported that their scouting process did 
not locate any domestic manufacturers for these exact or equivalent 
items.
    In addition to the MEP collaboration outlined above, the EERE Buy 
American Coordinator worked with labor unions, trade associations and 
other manufacturing stakeholders to scout for domestic manufacturing 
capacity or an equivalent product for each item contained in this 
waiver. EERE also conducted significant amounts of independent research 
to supplement MEP's scouting efforts, including utilizing the solar 
experts employed by the Department of Energy's National Renewable 
Energy Laboratory. EERE's research efforts confirmed the MEP findings 
that the goods included in this waiver are not produced in the United 
States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a 
satisfactory quality.
    The nonavailability determination is also informed by the inquiries 
and petitions to EERE from recipients of EERE Recovery Act funds, and 
from suppliers, distributors, retailers and trade associations--all 
stating that their individual efforts to locate domestic manufacturers 
have been unsuccessful.
    Having established a proper justification based on domestic 
nonavailability, EERE hereby provides notice that on November 10, 2010, 
five nationwide categorical waivers of section 1605 of the Recovery Act 
were issued as detailed supra. This notice constitutes the detailed 
written justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers based on 
a finding under subsection (b).
    This waiver determination is pursuant to the delegation of 
authority by the Secretary of Energy to the Assistant Secretary for 
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy with respect to expenditures 
within the purview of her responsibility. Consequently, this waiver 
applies to EERE projects carried out under the Recovery Act.

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

    Issued in Washington, DC on November 5, 2010.
Cathy Zoi,
Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. 
Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2010-29775 Filed 11-24-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P