[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 175 (Friday, September 11, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46770-46772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21940]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8956-1]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American
Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) to the Kennebec Water District in Waterville, ME
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a project 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 Kennebec Water District (KWD) (also known
as the ``Water District'') in Waterville, Maine for the purchase of
[[Page 46771]]
specific cast iron valve boxes. This is a project specific waiver and
only applies to the use of the specified product for the ARRA funded
project being proposed. Any other ARRA projects that may wish to use
the same product must apply for a separate waiver based on project
specific circumstances. These valve boxes meet KWD's technical
specifications and requirements, reflecting the Water District's
operation and maintenance experience with these boxes which are
currently manufactured in Canada by the Bibby Foundry. The Acting
Regional Administrator is making this determination based on the review
and recommendations of the Municipal Assistance Unit. KWD has provided
sufficient documentation to support its request. The Assistant
Administrator of the Office of Administration and Resources Management
has concurred in this decision to make an exception to Section 1605 of
ARRA. This action permits the purchase of specific cast iron valve
boxes for the proposed project being implemented by the Water District
that may otherwise be prohibited under Section 1605(a) of the ARRA.
DATES: Effective Date: September 2, 2009.
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, One Congress Street, CMU, Boston, MA 02114.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c) and
pursuant to Section 1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American
requirements, EPA hereby provides notice that it is granting a project
waiver to the Kennebec Water District (KWD) in Waterville, Maine for
the acquisition of specific cast iron valve boxes manufactured in
Canada by the Bibby Foundry. 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 public work
unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the
project are produced in the United States, or unless a waiver is
provided to the recipient by the head of the appropriate agency, here
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.
Some utilities in the Northeast United States, including the KWD,
have standardized their design specifications based on their operation
and maintenance experience to utilize a high flange slide riser for
valve boxes in their collection and distribution systems. The top
section of the valve box is 36 inches long and has its flange designed
so that the box is able to move up and down with the pavement surface
to deal with the deeper frost cover in this area of Maine.
After completion of the bid phase, the contract supplier for the
KWD was unable to locate any domestic valve box manufacturers with
products that met the proposed project specifications. The KWD requires
22 valve boxes to complete a proposed water main replacement project.
The cost of the 22 valve boxes is $2,901 and accounts for approximately
3% of the total value of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods on the
project. These non-domestic valve boxes are eligible to be covered
under the national revised de minimis waiver dated July 24, 2009.
However, since the estimated total cost of all non-domestic materials
was greater than 5% of the total cost for iron, steel, and manufactured
goods used and incorporated in the proposed project, the KWD requested
a project waiver for these specific valve boxes.
The 36-inch top section length valve box, which the KWD is
proposing to use, works well for several reasons: (1) The flange is
high and locked into the pavement so the top riser moves with the
pavement surface and prevents frost from raising the box above the road
surface; (2) its longer length of 36'' keeps it more aligned and
straight, and is better able to contend with the 6 foot frost depth;
(3) it has the top-flange box support area that is more than double
that of the no-flange valve box top to help minimize settlement and
maintain alignment; and (4) it will also support greater traffic loads
compared to a no-flange valve box top, which will further minimize
settlement.
There are valve boxes manufactured domestically. But based on the
information provided to EPA by the KWD, the domestic manufacturers do
not have the necessary top section length required. The KWD requires a
top section length of 36 inches based on its past and current
operations and maintenance experience. Without the necessary length in
the top section, extensions would need to be connected together or
``stacked'' on top of one another. According to the KWD, stacking
extensions to provide length beyond the standard 26-inch top section
available through domestic manufacturers makes it difficult to keep the
box plumb in the long term. There are three joints involved with
stacking extensions and when they get out of alignment due to road
settlement, it becomes difficult to insert a long handled ``tee
wrench'' down into the box over the operating nut to operate the valve
from ground level.
If a valve box cannot be opened, or if the operating nut cannot be
accessed to operate the valve from the ground level, it may require
replacement of the entire unit, resulting in additional costs to the
water utility that could have been avoided. Over the past several
years, the KWD has been replacing many of the older non-functioning
valve boxes with the newer valve boxes, which meet their design
specifications. The KWD has standardized this practice in order to
simplify operation and maintenance and to minimize unnecessary repair
and replacement costs in the future.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ Memorandum, ``Implementation of Buy
American provisions of P.L. 111-5, the `American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009,' '' 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.'' Based on the information provided to EPA and to the best
of our knowledge at this time, there do not appear to be other cast
iron valve boxes with the top flange manufactured in the United States
available to meet the Water District's exact technical specifications
and requirements. The Water District has established a proper basis to
specify the required cast iron valve boxes with the top flange and
established that this manufactured good was not available from a
domestic producer.
The purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery in part
by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay projects
that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring utilities such as the KWD to
revise their standards and specifications and to start the bidding
process again. The imposition of ARRA Buy American requirements on such
projects otherwise eligible for ARRA State Revolving Fund assistance
would result in unreasonable delay and thus displace the ``shovel
ready'' status for this project. To further
[[Page 46772]]
delay construction is in direct conflict with a fundamental economic
purpose of the ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
EPA's national contractor prepared a technical assessment report
for the Kennebec Water District dated June 25, 2009 on the waiver
request submitted. The report for the KWD determined that the waiver
request submittal was complete and that adequate technical information
was provided. The report also confirmed the waiver applicant's claims
that there were presently no comparable cast iron valve boxes
manufactured domestically. The technical review team found that
domestic manufacturers do produce cast iron valve boxes, but could not
identify any that offered the top flange product with the necessary top
section length of 36 inches.
The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided
by the KWD is sufficient to meet the criteria listed under Section
1605(b), OMB's regulations at 2 CFR 176.60-176.170, and in the April
28, 2009, ``Implementation of Buy American provisions of P.L. 111-5,
the ``American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 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 basis for this individual project waiver is
the authorization provided in Section 1605(b)(2). Due to the lack of
production of this product in the United States in sufficient and
reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality in order
to meet the Water District's technical specifications and requirements,
a waiver from the Buy American requirement is justified.
The March 31, 2009 Delegation of Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the authority to issue exceptions to
Section 1605 of 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
Kennebec Water District is hereby granted a waiver from the Buy
American requirements of Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5 for the
purchase of specified cast iron valve boxes using ARRA funds as
specified in the Water District's requests of June 23, 2009. This
supplementary information constitutes the detailed written
justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers ``based on a
finding under subsection (b).''
Authority: Public Law 111-5, section 1605
Dated: September 2, 2009.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region I, New England.
[FR Doc. E9-21940 Filed 9-10-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P