[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9906-9907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3939]


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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 sufficient and reasonably available quantities and 
of a satisfactory quality), with respect to Recovery Act projects 
funded by EERE for ((1) 400 amp Dual Element Time-Delay Fuses for 
electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging station; (2) Video 
imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and data 
detection; (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum 
static pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where 
the 3.0 water column is a requirement of the system); and (4) network 
manager for conversion of proprietary protocol--Staefa brand system--to 
a non-proprietary open source protocol.

DATES: Effective Date: 01/24/2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Platt-Patrick, 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 American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (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''). The authority of the Secretary of Energy to make 
all inapplicability determinations was re-delegated to the Assistant 
Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), for EERE 
projects under the Recovery Act, in Redelegation Order No. 00-002.01E, 
dated April 25, 2011. Pursuant to this delegation the Acting Assistant 
Secretary, EERE, has concluded that: (1) 400amp Dual Element Time-Delay 
Fuses for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging station; 
(2) Video imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and 
data detection; (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum 
static pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where 
the 3.0 water column is a requirement of the system); and (4) network 
manager for conversion of proprietary protocol--Staefa brand system--to 
a non-proprietary open source protocol, are not produced or 
manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably 
available quantities and of a satisfactory quality. The above items, 
when 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 determinations.
    The 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

[[Page 9907]]

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 four products in 
the current waiver, EERE reviewed the information provided and 
submitted the relevant technical information to the MEP. The MEP then 
used their network of nationwide centers to scout for domestic 
manufacturers. The 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 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 
for these items have been unsuccessful.
    Specific technical information for the manufactured goods included 
in this non-availability determination is detailed below:
    (1) 400amp Dual Element Time-Delay Fuses for electric vehicle 
supply equipment (EVSE) charging station
    These are used in the installation of EV charging stations. Two 
national trade organizations representing American manufacturers of 
this equipment verified that these are not manufactured in the US. 
Further, MEP did not identify a potential manufacturer.
    (2) Video imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and 
data detection
    These card racks are installed into existing traffic systems and 
are not manufactured domestically. Neither transportation manufacturing 
trade associations nor MEP identified any US manufacturer of this 
product.
    (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum static 
pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where the 3.0 
water column is a requirement of the system)
    This waiver is limited to systems that require compatibility with 
this extremely high water column. No US manufacturers (four 
manufacturers of this type of equipment were identified by EERE and MEP 
and contacted) were able to meet this need.
    (4) Network manager for conversion of proprietary protocol- Staefa 
brand system to a non-proprietary open source protocol
    For use where a Staefa system was installed previously, and where 
utilizing a domestic control module would mean that the existing energy 
management controls would have to be removed and a new energy 
management controls system would have to replace the existing Staefa 
system. This product allows the grantee to convert from the proprietary 
protocol to an open-source protocol- providing a wider variety of 
controls in the future.
    In these cases, the grantee is unable to use a domestic control 
module because the existing system runs off of a proprietary 
communication protocol (rather than LON or BACnet), and the entire 
system would have to be replaced to install additional controllers. 
Trade organizations, DOE and MEP all agreed that this was the only 
controller capable of properly interfacing with this protocol.
    In light of the foregoing, and under the authority of section 
1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5 and Redelegation Order 00-002-01E, with 
respect to Recovery Act projects funded by EERE, I hereby issue a 
``determination of inapplicability'' (a waiver under the Recovery Act 
Buy American provision) for: ((1) 400amp Dual Element Time-Delay Fuses 
for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging station; (2) 
Video imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and data 
detection; (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum 
static pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where 
the 3.0 water column is a requirement of the system); and (4) network 
manager for conversion of proprietary protocol- Staefa brand system- to 
a non-proprietary open source protocol.
    Having established a proper justification based on domestic 
nonavailability, EERE hereby provides notice that on January 24, 2012, 
four (4) 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 his responsibility. Consequently, this waiver 
applies to all EERE projects carried out under the Recovery Act.

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

    Dated: Issued in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2012.
Henry Kelly,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 
U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2012-3939 Filed 2-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P