[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2371-2373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-636]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9252-6]


Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy 
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
to the Hyannis Water System in Hyannis, MA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a waiver of the Buy American 
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 Hyannis Water System in Hyannis, Massachusetts 
(``System'') for the purchase of fourteen security cameras as part of a 
Security and Fire Alarm System 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 System 
and its consulting engineer, it has been determined that there are 
currently no domestically manufactured security cameras available to 
meet its proposed project specifications. The Regional

[[Page 2372]]

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 fourteen security cameras by 
the System, as specified in its October 19, 2010 request.

DATES: Effective Date: January 5, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1658, or David Chin, Environmental Engineer, (617) 918-1764, 
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 System for the purchase of non-domestically 
manufactured security cameras to meet the System's specifications as 
part of their Security and Fire Alarm System Project.
    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.
    EPA has also evaluated the System's request to determine if its 
submission is considered late or if it could be considered timely, as 
per the OMB Guidance at 2 CFR 176.120. EPA will generally regard waiver 
requests with respect to components that were specified in the bid 
solicitation or in a general/primary construction contract as ``late'' 
if submitted after the contract date. However, EPA could also determine 
that a request be evaluated as timely, though made after the date that 
the contract was signed, if the need for a waiver was not reasonably 
foreseeable. If the need for a waiver is reasonably foreseeable, then 
EPA could still apply discretion in these late cases as per the OMB 
Guidance, which says ``the award official may deny the request.'' For 
those waiver requests that do not have a reasonably unforeseeable basis 
for lateness, but for which the waiver basis is valid and there is no 
apparent gain by the ARRA recipient or loss on behalf of the 
government, then EPA will still consider granting a waiver.
    In this case, there are no U.S. manufacturers that meet the 
System's project specifications for these security cameras. The waiver 
request was submitted after the contract date during the shop drawing 
phase. An extensive search was conducted by the recipient for a 
domestic security camera which would meet the project specifications 
but none were available at the time of the request. Although it was 
known that the security cameras would be needed for this project, it 
was the last contract for the project and was not looked at until much 
later in the construction timeline. There is no indication that the 
System failed to request a waiver in order to avoid the requirements of 
the ARRA, particularly since there are no domestically manufactured 
products available that meet the project specifications. EPA will 
consider the System's waiver request a foreseeable late request, as 
though it had been timely made since there is no gain by the System and 
no loss by the government due to the late request.
    The System is requesting a waiver from the Buy American provision 
of ARRA for fourteen Panasonic Super Dynamic III PTZ color CCD security 
cameras manufactured by the Panasonic Corporation. The security cameras 
are scheduled for installation by early December 2010. The technical 
specifications indicate that the security cameras should be IP cameras 
with a \1/4\-inch progressive scan charge-coupled device (CCD) imager 
with 380,000 (768 x 494) pixels resolution. Additionally, the 
specifications include that the cameras should have digital signal 
processing, 0.7 lux sensitivity in color mode, both standard and fast 
shutter speeds, image processing of both long and short charges, image 
hold capability, auto back light compensation, automatic tracing white 
balance adjustment for day and night, built-in digital motion-detector, 
performance in extreme low-light conditions, scene-change detection 
with an alarm, shutter adjustable from 1/60 to 1/10,000 second, eight 
privacy zones, focal length of 3.79 to 83.4 mm, continuous zoom of 10X 
for a total magnification of 220X, and aperture of f/1.6 at wide angle 
and f/3.0 at telephoto. The detailed technical specifications were 
written as such in order to ensure that the security cameras installed 
as part of the project would be able to utilize advanced programming 
technology. The security cameras are required not only to be configured 
with the alarm system, but to transfer images through the facility's 
current computer system.
    The System has researched 36 foreign and domestic manufacturers of 
security cameras and has determined that domestic manufacturers are not 
able to manufacture a camera that would meet the technical 
specifications. The System has proposed the Panasonic Super Dynamic III 
PTZ color CCD security camera because it meets all the technical 
specifications.
    An evaluation of all of the submitted documentation by EPA's 
technical review team supports and confirms the System's claim that 
there are currently no domestic manufacturers that can provide a 
security camera that meets all the project specifications. An 
independent review of the submitted documentation by EPA's national 
contractor found four possible domestic manufacturers. However, none of 
the manufacturers contacted currently provides a product that would 
meet all the project specifications. The domestic products in general 
give less resolution, have fewer functions, and are not as instantly 
Internet-accessible. In addition, the evaluation of the supporting 
documentation demonstrated that foreign manufactured security cameras 
are available and will be able to meet the proposed specifications.
    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.''
    The purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery by 
funding current infrastructure construction, not

[[Page 2373]]

to delay or require the substantial redesign of projects that are 
``shovel ready'', such as this project at the Hyannis Water System. The 
implementation of the ARRA Buy American requirements in this case could 
result in additional cost for this project and unreasonable delay in 
its completion. Such delay would also directly conflict with a 
fundamental economic purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain 
jobs.
    The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver 
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided 
by the System establishes both a proper basis to specify a particular 
manufactured good, and that the domestically manufactured good that is 
currently available does not meet the specifications 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, the Hyannis Water 
System 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 fourteen security cameras documented in 
System's waiver request submittal dated October 19, 2010. 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 5, 2011.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2011-636 Filed 1-12-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P