[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 243 (Monday, December 20, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79374-79375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31894]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9241-2]
Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
to the Woodlake Tax District in Woodbury, CT
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 Woodlake Tax District (``District'') in Woodbury,
Connecticut for the purchase of a submersible well pump as part of the
construction of a new bedrock well field and raw water transmission
line. 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 District and its consulting engineer, it
has been determined that there are currently no domestically
manufactured submersible well pumps available to meet its proposed
project specifications. The Regional 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 a 3 inch diameter submersible well pump by the District, as
specified in its October 19, 2010 request.
DATES: Effective Date: December 10, 2010.
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(a) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American
requirements, to the District for the purchase of a non-domestically
manufactured 3 inch diameter submersible well pump to meet the
District's specifications as part of the construction of a new bedrock
well field and raw water transmission line.
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
[[Page 79375]]
the overall project by more than 25 percent.
Consistent with the direction of the OMB Guidance at 2 CFR 176.120,
EPA has evaluated the District's request to determine if the request
constitutes a late request. 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, in this case EPA has determined that
the District's request, though made after the date that the contract
was signed, can be evaluated as timely because the need for a waiver
was not reasonably foreseeable. During construction, one of the three
bedrock wells became unstable and required additional PVC casing to be
installed the length of the well. Due to the additional PVC casing in
the well, the 4 inch diameter well pump specified during design could
no longer be utilized and a smaller 3 inch diameter submersible well
pump was needed. The recipient could not reasonably have foreseen the
need for a waiver prior to the changed circumstances which developed
during construction. Accordingly, EPA will evaluate the request as a
timely request.
The District is requesting a waiver from the Buy American provision
of ARRA for one 3 inch diameter, 1 horsepower, single phase submersible
well pump manufactured by Grundfos Pump Corporation. The unit is
scheduled for installation by the end of November 2010. During drilling
and pump testing of one of the three bedrock wells within the well
field, a soft rock layer was discovered in the formation and the well
appeared to be unstable. An additional 4 inch PVC casing was installed
the length of the well to help prevent caving and allow flexibility to
install the pump below the soft rock layer. With the additional casing
in place, the original 4 inch diameter well pump that was specified
during design could no longer be used as it exceeded the diameter of
the modified well.
The District has researched foreign and domestic manufacturers of 3
inch diameter submersible well pumps and has determined that domestic
manufacturers are not able to manufacture a well pump that meets the
necessary 3 inch diameter. The District was only able to identify
Grundfos Pump Corporation that manufactures a 3 inch diameter, 1
horsepower, single phase submersible well pump.
An evaluation of all of the submitted documentation by EPA's
technical review team supports and confirms the District's claim that
there are currently no domestic manufacturers that can provide a
submersible well pump that meets the necessary size constraints. The
consulting engineer for the District identified three domestic
manufacturers in the United States. None of the companies currently
manufacture 3 inch diameter submersible well pumps. An independent
review of the submitted documentation by EPA's national contractor
found four additional possible domestic manufacturers. However, none of
the manufacturers contacted currently provides a product that meets the
size constraints. In addition, the evaluation of the supporting
documentation demonstrated that foreign manufactured 3 inch diameter
submersible well pumps are available and will be able to meet the
proposed specifications.
Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic
recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay
or curtail entirely projects that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring
potential SRF eligible recipients, such as the Woodlake Tax District,
to revise their design standards and specifications. To curtail
entirely this construction would directly conflict with a fundamental
economic purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
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 Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided
by the District 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 Woodlake Tax
District 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 a non-domestically manufactured 3 inch
diameter submersible well pump documented in District'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: Public Law 111-5, section 1605.
Dated: December 10, 2010.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2010-31894 Filed 12-17-10; 8:45 am]
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