[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 92 (Friday, May 11, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22114-22115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10042]



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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 North 
Carolina Department of Transportation 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 North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) a waiver 
from FRA's Buy America requirement to use certain non-domestic 
components of a fire alarm system that Lake Electric, Inc. will provide 
for the Locomotive and Railcar Maintenance Facility project in 
Charlotte, NC. Lake Electric, Inc. is an electrical contractor for the 
Locomotive and Railcar Maintenance Facility project.

DATES: Written comments on FRA's determination to grant a Buy America 
waiver to NCDOT should be provided to the FRA on or before May 18, 
2018.

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) Website: 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, Washington, DC 
20590, (202) 493-0078, [email protected].

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

NCDOT Rail Division
1553 Mail Service Center
1 South Wilmington Street
Raleigh, NC 27699-1553
Re: Request for Waiver of Buy America Requirement
    Dear Mr. Allan Paul:
    On April 4, 2017, Lake 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 
Locomotive and Railcar Maintenance Facility project in Charlotte, NC 
(Project). The Project is for the construction of a railcar and 
maintenance facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. The North 
Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), through its 
contractor, awarded Lake Electric, Inc. the electrical construction 
sub-contract for the Project. The $23.25 million project is funded 
by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 grant to NCDOT.
    The Project is subject to 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(l). Section 
24405(a)(l) 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. FRA is providing its decision on 
the waiver to NCDOT as the FRA grant recipient for this Project, and 
this waiver applies only to this Project.
    Lake Electric seeks a waiver for the following components 
(Components) for use in the Project:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Description                            Quantity
------------------------------------------------------------------------
252 Point Fire Alarm Control Panel...........................          1
Digital Alarm Communicator Transmitter.......................          1
Remote Annunciators..........................................          1
RS-485 Interface Modules.....................................          1
12V7ah SIA Batteries.........................................          4
Dual Action Manual pull stations.............................          7
Photoelectric Smoke Detectors................................         22
Relay Modules................................................          4
Red Wall Mount Horn/Strobes..................................         18
Red Wall Mount Strobes.......................................         14
Multi-Criteria Fire Detectors................................          5
Monitor Modules..............................................          5
Dual Input Monitor Modules...................................          1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The total cost of the fire alarm system is less than $6,000, and 
the total cost of the non-U.S. manufactured components is less than 
$4,000.
    Lake Electric asserts the following facts in support of the 
waiver request:
    Lake Electric sought bids from fourteen qualified suppliers and 
received two bids for the fire alarm system from suppliers Southern 
Sound and Lefler Electronics. Although these suppliers source many 
fire alarm system components from U.S. manufacturers, neither 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;

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    On September 28, 2017, FRA provided public notice of this waiver 
request and a 15-day opportunity for comment on its website. 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 Lake 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,
Ronald L. Batory,
Administrator
cc: Lake Electric Co.

Brett Andrew Jortland,
Acting Deputy Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2018-10042 Filed 5-10-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P