[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2371-2373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-636]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9252-6]
Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
to the Hyannis Water System in Hyannis, MA
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 Hyannis Water System in Hyannis, Massachusetts
(``System'') for the purchase of fourteen security cameras as part of a
Security and Fire Alarm System Project. 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 System
and its consulting engineer, it has been determined that there are
currently no domestically manufactured security cameras available to
meet its proposed project specifications. The Regional
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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 fourteen security cameras by
the System, as specified in its October 19, 2010 request.
DATES: Effective Date: January 5, 2011.
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(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American
requirements, to the System for the purchase of non-domestically
manufactured security cameras to meet the System's specifications as
part of their Security and Fire Alarm System Project.
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 the
overall project by more than 25 percent.
EPA has also evaluated the System's request to determine if its
submission is considered late or if it could be considered timely, as
per the OMB Guidance at 2 CFR 176.120. 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, EPA could also determine
that a request be evaluated as timely, though made after the date that
the contract was signed, if the need for a waiver was not reasonably
foreseeable. If the need for a waiver is reasonably foreseeable, then
EPA could still apply discretion in these late cases as per the OMB
Guidance, which says ``the award official may deny the request.'' For
those waiver requests that do not have a reasonably unforeseeable basis
for lateness, but for which the waiver basis is valid and there is no
apparent gain by the ARRA recipient or loss on behalf of the
government, then EPA will still consider granting a waiver.
In this case, there are no U.S. manufacturers that meet the
System's project specifications for these security cameras. The waiver
request was submitted after the contract date during the shop drawing
phase. An extensive search was conducted by the recipient for a
domestic security camera which would meet the project specifications
but none were available at the time of the request. Although it was
known that the security cameras would be needed for this project, it
was the last contract for the project and was not looked at until much
later in the construction timeline. There is no indication that the
System failed to request a waiver in order to avoid the requirements of
the ARRA, particularly since there are no domestically manufactured
products available that meet the project specifications. EPA will
consider the System's waiver request a foreseeable late request, as
though it had been timely made since there is no gain by the System and
no loss by the government due to the late request.
The System is requesting a waiver from the Buy American provision
of ARRA for fourteen Panasonic Super Dynamic III PTZ color CCD security
cameras manufactured by the Panasonic Corporation. The security cameras
are scheduled for installation by early December 2010. The technical
specifications indicate that the security cameras should be IP cameras
with a \1/4\-inch progressive scan charge-coupled device (CCD) imager
with 380,000 (768 x 494) pixels resolution. Additionally, the
specifications include that the cameras should have digital signal
processing, 0.7 lux sensitivity in color mode, both standard and fast
shutter speeds, image processing of both long and short charges, image
hold capability, auto back light compensation, automatic tracing white
balance adjustment for day and night, built-in digital motion-detector,
performance in extreme low-light conditions, scene-change detection
with an alarm, shutter adjustable from 1/60 to 1/10,000 second, eight
privacy zones, focal length of 3.79 to 83.4 mm, continuous zoom of 10X
for a total magnification of 220X, and aperture of f/1.6 at wide angle
and f/3.0 at telephoto. The detailed technical specifications were
written as such in order to ensure that the security cameras installed
as part of the project would be able to utilize advanced programming
technology. The security cameras are required not only to be configured
with the alarm system, but to transfer images through the facility's
current computer system.
The System has researched 36 foreign and domestic manufacturers of
security cameras and has determined that domestic manufacturers are not
able to manufacture a camera that would meet the technical
specifications. The System has proposed the Panasonic Super Dynamic III
PTZ color CCD security camera because it meets all the technical
specifications.
An evaluation of all of the submitted documentation by EPA's
technical review team supports and confirms the System's claim that
there are currently no domestic manufacturers that can provide a
security camera that meets all the project specifications. An
independent review of the submitted documentation by EPA's national
contractor found four possible domestic manufacturers. However, none of
the manufacturers contacted currently provides a product that would
meet all the project specifications. The domestic products in general
give less resolution, have fewer functions, and are not as instantly
Internet-accessible. In addition, the evaluation of the supporting
documentation demonstrated that foreign manufactured security cameras
are available and will be able to meet the proposed specifications.
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 purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery by
funding current infrastructure construction, not
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to delay or require the substantial redesign of projects that are
``shovel ready'', such as this project at the Hyannis Water System. The
implementation of the ARRA Buy American requirements in this case could
result in additional cost for this project and unreasonable delay in
its completion. Such delay would also directly conflict with a
fundamental economic purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain
jobs.
The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided
by the System 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 Hyannis Water
System 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 fourteen security cameras documented in
System'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: Pub. L. 111-5, section 1605.
Dated: January 5, 2011.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2011-636 Filed 1-12-11; 8:45 am]
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