[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 192 (Thursday, October 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46608-46609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21441]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2012-0033]


Notice of Intent To Grant a Buy America Waiver to the City of 
Raleigh To Use Certain Non-Domestic Components of a Fire Alarm System

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), United States Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of intent to grant Buy America waiver.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public it intends to 
grant the City of Raleigh (City) a waiver from FRA's Buy America 
requirement to use certain non-domestic components of a fire alarm 
system Code Electric, Inc. provided for the Raleigh Union Station 
project, in partnership with the North Carolina Department of 
Transportation (NCDOT). Code Electric, Inc. is an electrical contractor 
for the Raleigh Union Station project.

DATES: Written comments on FRA's determination to grant a Buy America 
waiver to the City should be provided to the FRA on or before October 
12, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means, 
identifying your submissions by docket number FRA-2012-0033. All 
electronic submissions must be made to the U.S. Government electronic 
site at http://www.regulations.gov. Commenters should follow the 
instructions below for mailed and hand-delivered comments:
    (1) Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments on the U.S. Government electronic docket site;
    (2) Fax: (202) 493-2251;
    (3) Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Docket Operations, M-30, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 
or
    (4) Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the first floor of the West 
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must reference the ``Federal Railroad 
Administration'' and include docket number FRA-2012-0033. Due to 
security procedures in effect since October 2001, mail received through 
the U.S. Postal Service may be subject to delays. Parties submitting 
responses to this notice should consider using an express mail firm to 
ensure the prompt filing of any submissions not filed electronically or 
by hand. Note that all submissions received, including any personal 
information therein, will be posted without change or alteration to 
http://www.regulations.gov. For more information, you may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or visit http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John Johnson, Attorney-Advisor, 
FRA Office of Chief Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Mail Stop 10, 
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-0078, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FRA provided information on its reasons for 
granting this waiver in a letter to the City of Raleigh, quoted below:

Mr. Richard L. Kelly
Engineering Services Director
City of Raleigh
One Exchange Plaza
219 Fayetteville Street, Suite 801
Raleigh, NC 27601

Re: Request for Waiver of Buy America Requirement

Dear Mr. Kelly:
    On September 23, 2016, Code Electric, Inc. requested a waiver 
from the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Buy America 
requirement (49 U.S.C. 24405(a)) to use certain components of a fire 
alarm system, which cannot be sourced in the United States, in the 
Raleigh Union Station project (Project). The Project is for 
construction of a passenger train station in downtown Raleigh that 
will replace the existing Amtrak station. The City of Raleigh 
(City), through its contractor, awarded Code Electric, Inc. the 
electrical construction sub-contract for the Project. The $90 
million project is funded in part by two Transportation 
Infrastructure Generating Economic Recovery grants of $26.5 million 
from Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 and $11.5 million from FY 2013 to the 
City, and $15 million from a $520 million American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 grant to the North Carolina Department of 
Transportation. FRA is providing its decision on the waiver to the 
City as the FRA grant recipient for this Project.
    The Project is subject to 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(1). Section 
24405(a)(1) requires the steel, iron, and manufactured goods used in 
a project to be produced in the United States. FRA may waive the Buy 
America requirements if FRA finds that: (1) Applying the 
requirements would be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) the 
steel, iron, and goods manufactured in the United States are not 
produced in sufficient and reasonably available amounts or are not 
of a satisfactory quality; (3) rolling stock or power train 
equipment cannot be bought or delivered to the United States within 
a reasonable time; or (4) including domestic material will increase 
the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent.
    For the reasons stated in this letter, FRA grants a ``non-
availability'' Buy America waiver. This waiver applies only to this 
Project.
    Code Electric seeks a waiver for the following components 
(Components) for use in the Project:

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                Description                      Quantity                 Description                Quantity
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Addressable Pull Station...................              15   Addressable Module Flush Cover....              22
Duct Sensor Housing........................               6   Overvoltage Suppressor............               1
Remote Test Station........................               6   Relay IAM.........................              13
Sampling Tube 73, Plastic.......               6   Addressable Module Flush Cover....              13
Relay IAM..................................               6   Relay Id NET 2 IAM W/T Sense......               1
Addressable Module Flush Cover.............               6   10 AH Battery.....................               2
Indoor/Outdoor Surface Back Box............               8   Address Module Isolator...........              10
Speaker Low Profile Ceiling Mount..........               9   Addressable Module Flush Cover....              10
Supervised IAM.............................              22   50 AH Battery.....................               4
IAM Bracket................................              22   Laptop............................               1
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    The total cost of the fire alarm system is less than $30,000, 
and the total cost of the non-U.S. manufactured components is less 
than $10,000.
    Code Electric asserts the following facts in support of the 
waiver request:

[[Page 46609]]

     Code Electric received several bids for the fire alarm 
system from suppliers Honeywell, Tyco Simplex Grinnell, and Edwards 
(United Technologies). Although these suppliers source many fire 
alarm system components from U.S. manufacturers, none of the 
suppliers offered a one hundred percent Buy America-compliant 
system. All fire alarm system suppliers use a mix of foreign and US-
made components; and
     The foreign components used by suppliers vary. However, 
due to programming, interoperability, and certification issues, the 
components are not interchangeable among systems. Therefore, 
suppliers cannot swap out components to meet Buy America.
    FRA independently verified these assertions with its Monitoring 
and Technical Assistance Contractor (MTAC), TranSystems. An 
electrical engineer from FRA's MTAC explained that large 
international suppliers source or manufacture pieces of the fire 
alarm system in different countries. Further, many portions of the 
system are addressable (individually programmable), which means the 
software and hardware must be compatible and tested. In addition, 
fire alarm components and systems are UL[supreg] listed. UL[supreg] 
is a third-party, independent company that certifies safety 
compliance of many systems and their components, including fire 
alarm systems. Attempting to swap pieces of a fire alarm system 
would jeopardize its UL[supreg] listing and could cause product 
warranty and liability issues.
    FRA concludes a waiver is appropriate under 49 U.S.C. 
24405(a)(2)(B) for the Components because domestically-produced 
Components are not currently ``produced in sufficient and reasonably 
available amounts.'' 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(B). FRA bases this 
determination on the following:
     For competitively bid, commercial products for 
buildings, such as fire alarm systems, FRA views receiving no Buy 
America-compliant bids as presumptive evidence the conditions exist 
to grant a non-availability waiver;
     On October 28, 2016, FRA provided public notice of this 
waiver request and a 15-day opportunity for comment on its Web site. 
FRA also emailed notice to over 6,000 recipients that requested Buy 
America notices through ``GovDelivery.'' FRA received one comment. 
However, the commenter did not provide any information about a 
domestic source for a fully Buy America-compliant fire alarm system; 
and
     FRA's MTAC concurred with Code Electric that due to 
programming, interoperability, and certification issues, components 
are not interchangeable among systems. Therefore, fire alarm system 
suppliers cannot swap out components to meet Buy America.
    This waiver applies only to this Project for these specific 
components.
    Under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(4), FRA will publish this letter 
granting the Buy America waiver to the City in the Federal Register 
and provide notice of such finding and an opportunity for public 
comment after which this waiver will become effective.
    Questions about this letter can be directed to, John Johnson, 
Attorney-Advisor, at [email protected] or (202) 493-0078.

Sincerely,

Heath Hall
Acting Administrator

cc: Code Electric, Inc.

Brett A. Jortland,
Acting Deputy Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-21441 Filed 10-4-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P