[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 1 (Monday, January 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 186-187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-33044]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Buy American Waiver Under the American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009

AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: NSF is hereby granting a limited exemption of section 1605 of 
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), 
Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115, 303 (2009), with respect to the 
purchase of the weather facsimile machine that will be used in the 
Alaska Region Research Vessel (ARRV). A weather facsimile (weather fax) 
is an electronic machine designed to automatically receive near-real 
time marine weather information.

DATES: January 3, 2011.

ADDRESSES: National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, 
Virginia 22230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Leithead, Division of 
Acquisition and Cooperative Support, 703-292-4595.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 1605(c) of the 
Recovery Act and section 176.80 of Title 2 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hereby provides 
notice that on October 22, 2010, the NSF Chief Financial Officer (CFO), 
in accordance with a delegation order from the Director of the agency, 
granted a limited project exemption of section 1605 of the Recovery Act 
(Buy American provision) with respect to the weather fax that will be 
used in the ARRV. The basis for this exemption is section 1605(b)(2) of 
the Recovery Act, in that weather faxes of satisfactory quality are not 
produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available 
commercial quantities. The cost of the weather fax is approximately 
$11,000, which represents less than .01% of the value of the total $148 
million Recovery Act award provided toward construction of the ARRV.

I. Background

    The Recovery Act appropriated $400 million to NSF for several 
projects being funded by the Foundation's Major Research Equipment and 
Facilities Construction (MREFC) account. The ARRV is one of NSF's MREFC 
projects. Section 1605(a) of the Recovery Act, the Buy American 
provision, states that none of the funds appropriated by the Act ``may 
be used for a project 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 ARRV has been developed under a cooperative agreement awarded 
to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) that began in 2007. 
Shipyard selection is complete and UAF executed the construction 
contract in December 2009. The purpose of the Recovery Act is to 
stimulate economic recovery in part by funding current construction 
projects like the ARRV that are ``shovel ready'' without requiring 
projects to revise their standards and specifications, or to restart 
the bidding process again.
    Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the Recovery Act authorize the head 
of a Federal department or agency to waive the Buy American provision 
if the head of the agency finds that: (1) Applying the provision would 
be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) the relevant goods are 
not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably 
available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or (3) the 
inclusion of the goods produced in the United States will increase the 
cost of the project by more than 25 percent. If the head of the Federal 
department or agency waives the Buy American provision, then the head 
of the department or agency is required to publish a detailed 
justification in the Federal Register. Finally, section 1605(d) of the 
Recovery Act states that the Buy American provision must be applied in 
a manner consistent with the United States' obligations under 
international agreements.

II. Finding That Relevant Goods Are Not Produced In the United StatesIn 
Sufficient and Reasonably Available Quality

    The requirement for a weather fax was part of the construction 
specifications for the ARRV. A weather fax provides valuable, near-real 
time weather information to the ship as an aid for planning science 
operations and transit voyages. It is a standard piece of electronic 
bridge equipment throughout the world as it provides the ship operator 
with an excellent and necessary forecasting tool to assess weather 
impact on operations. The specification requirements for the weather 
fax include:
    1. Performance, reliability, maintainability, durability, size, and 
weight.
    2. Regulatory body approval.
    3. Availability of spare parts.
    4. Operate within the 2 MHz to 25 MHz range.
    5. Built-in receiver.
    6. Built-in thermal printer.
    7. Human Machine Interface that allows the operator easy access for 
system set-up.
    8. Pre-programmed with 150 channels for the existing facsimile 
stations world-wide and allow manual programming by the operator.
    9. Internal back-up battery.
    10. Automatic start/stop recording and printing.
    An important feature operationally is being a stand-alone unit with 
a built in printer and automatic operation. This provides the bridge 
watch with a hard copy of weather charts and weather satellite images 
in the pilothouse without having to access a computer or keep track of 
when a facsimile station is scheduled to transmit. The automatic 
operation is critical to minimize distractions to the bridge watch who 
can then retrieve the hard copy for analysis at a time that will not 
impact navigational duties. Science and routine vessel operational 
duties are demanding, especially in the high latitudes where the ARRV 
will operate. Any unnecessary distractions in the pilothouse can 
jeopardize the safety of the vessel.
    The ARRV will operate as a Global class ship within the U.S. 
academic research vessel fleet. As such, it is expected to deploy 
worldwide where it is likely to encounter highly variable weather 
conditions. Over the vessel's service life, the ARRV is likely to be 
deployed to Arctic and Antarctic waters, the north Pacific and north 
Atlantic

[[Page 187]]

where the weather conditions change rapidly and dramatically. Vessels 
working in these high latitudes are subject to demanding and often 
dangerous conditions due to low temperatures, high winds, and rough 
seas. Failure to meet any of the technical requirements would have 
severe negative consequences for the project with regard to operational 
safety.
    The market research for this exemption was done by the shipyard in 
the summer of 2010 and verified by the UAF project team in July 2010. 
As noted in UAF's request for this exemption, the shipyard performed 
market research by reviewing industry publications, the Internet 
(including the Marine Electronics Journal Web site) and contacting 
various electronic supply companies in order to assess whether there 
exists a domestic capability to provide a weather fax that meets the 
necessary requirements for safe and successful operation world-wide. 
Eighteen (18) potential vendors were identified with only six (6) 
manufacturing a weather fax. Of the six, only one (1) was a U.S. 
manufacturer. The shipyard then compared the existing product lines for 
compliance with the weather fax technical specifications and 
requirements as identified above. It was found that the one U.S. 
manufacturer did not make a unit that was stand-alone. Instead, the 
system uses a personal computer to provide both the human interface and 
printing capability of the weather charts. This requires the bridge 
watch to actively manage and interface with the system, which takes 
their attention from other navigational and operational duties. This 
distraction increases the likelihood of collision, grounding, failure 
to adequately monitor over-the-side science operations, and 
inadvertently sailing into dangerous weather conditions. Because of 
this, all modern ocean-going vessels have at least one stand-alone 
weather fax system.
    The project's conclusion is there are no U.S. manufacturers who 
produce a suitable weather fax unit that meets all of the ARRV 
requirements so an exemption to the Buy American requirements is 
necessary.
    In the absence of a domestic supplier that could provide a 
requirements-compliant weather fax, UAF requested that NSF issue a 
Section 1605 exemption determination with respect to the purchase of a 
foreign-supplied, requirements-compliant weather fax, so that the 
vessel will meet the specific design and technical requirements which, 
as explained above, are necessary for this vessel to be able to perform 
its mission safely and successfully. Furthermore, the shipyard's market 
research as verified by UAF indicated that a weather fax compliant with 
the ARRV's technical specifications and requirements is commercially 
available from foreign vendors within their standard product lines.
    NSF's Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support (DACS) and 
other NSF program staff reviewed the UAF exemption request submittal, 
found that it was complete, and determined that sufficient technical 
information was provided in order for NSF to evaluate the exemption 
request and to conclude that an exemption is needed and should be 
granted.

III. Exemption

    On October 22, 2010, based on the finding that no domestically 
produced weather fax met all of the ARRV's technical specifications and 
requirements and pursuant to section 1605(b), the NSF Chief Financial 
Officer, in accordance with a delegation order from the Director of the 
agency, granted a limited project exemption of the Recovery Act's Buy 
American requirements with respect to the procurement of the marine 
weather fax.

    Dated: December 23, 2010.
Lawrence Rudolph,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-33044 Filed 12-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P