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Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the Sharon Elementary School Water System, Sharon, VT

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

PDF Version (2 pp, 65K, About PDF)

[Federal Register: July 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 143)]
[Notices]
[Page 37221-37222]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28jy09-36]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8935-8]

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American
Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) to the Sharon Elementary School Water System, Sharon, VT

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 Sharon Elementary School Water System in
Sharon, Vermont for the purchase of NSF-55 Class A certified Ultra
Violet (UV) disinfection equipment. This is project specific waiver and
only applies to the use of the specified product for the ARRA funded
project being proposed. Any other ARRA project that may wish to use the
same product must apply for a separate waiver based on project specific
circumstances. The UV disinfection equipment under consideration is
manufactured outside of the United States by two companies based in
Canada and meets the water system's technical and design
specifications. The Acting Regional Administrator is making this
determination based on the review and recommendations of the Municipal
Assistance Unit. The Sharon Elementary School Water System has provided
sufficient documentation to support its request. The Assistant
Administrator of the Office of Administration and Resources Management
has concurred on this decision to make an exception to section 1605 of
the ARRA. This action permits the purchase of specific UV disinfection
equipment for the proposed project being implemented by the Sharon
Elementary School Water System.

DATES: Effective Date: July 17, 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 Sharon
Elementary School Water System (the ``System'') in Sharon, Vermont for
the acquisition of NSF-55 Class A certified Ultra Violet (UV)
disinfection equipment manufactured outside of the United States.
    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.
    The State of Vermont requires that water supply installations must
comply with the Vermont Standards for Water System Design, Construction
and Protection (Vermont Water Supply Rule--Chapter 21). In order to
meet these standards the State of Vermont requires public water systems
using UV disinfection to use National Sanitation Foundation (NSF)
Standard 55 (Ultraviolet Microbial Water Treatment Systems) Class A
certified UV equipment. The State of Vermont, Agency of Natural
Resources, Water Supply Division (VTANR) has identified three lines of
UV disinfection systems with NSF-55 Class A certification, all
manufactured in Canada. Two of the three include the UV Pure Hallett
15xs ultraviolet water system, as well as the Trojan Technologies
Sterilight SPV 200 series units. The design engineer and the VTANR have
conducted research and determined that there are no domestic
manufacturers that have NSF-55 Class A certification at the time of
this waiver request.
    The design engineer for the System indicated that he chose to use
four Hallett 15xs (15 gpm) UV units for the school buildings and one
Sterilight SPV 200 (2 gpm) UV unit for a remote location which receives
its water supply from the school well. The designs also took into
account the limited space available for retrofitting the water supply
and distribution systems, as well as the attributes of the specific
equipment. The estimated cost for all of the UV equipment for the
proposed project was under $10,000.
    The System's submission clearly articulates functional reasons for
its technical specifications and requirements, and has provided
sufficient documentation that the relevant manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available
quantity and of a satisfactory quality to meet its technical
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' '', 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

[[Page 37222]]

plans and design''. After extensive research by the design engineer and
the VTANR, the system has provided information to the EPA representing
that there is currently no other UV disinfection equipment from a domestic
manufacturer available to meet the System's exact design specifications.
    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 Sharon
Elementary School Water System, 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 State Revolving Fund assistance would result in unreasonable delay
and thus displace the ``shovel ready'' status for this project. To
further delay construction is in direct conflict with a fundamental
economic purpose of the ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs. The
construction must be completed by late August when the students return
for the new school year.
    EPA's national contractor prepared a technical assessment report
dated June 19, 2009 based on the waiver request submitted and
supporting documentation. The report determined that the waiver request
submittal was complete, that adequate technical information was
provided, and that there were no significant weaknesses in the
justification provided. The report confirmed the waiver applicant's
claim that NSF Standard 55 Class A UV disinfection equipment of the
size specified are not available from a domestic manufacturer.
    The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided
by the Sharon Elementary School Water District is sufficient to meet
the criteria listed under section 1605(b) of the ARRA and in the April
28, 2009, ``Implementation of Buy American provisions of Public Law
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 project waiver is the
authorization provided in section 1605(b)(2) of the ARRA. 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 System'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 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
Sharon, Vermont Elementary School Water System is hereby granted a
waiver from the Buy American requirements of section 1605(a) of Public
Law 111-5 for the purchase of the specified UV disinfection equipment
using ARRA funds as specified in the System's request of June 15, 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: July 17, 2009.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region I, New England.
[FR Doc. E9-17931 Filed 7-27-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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