2010-26507. Nationwide Categorical Waivers Under Section 1605 (Buy American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

AGENCY:

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION:

Notice of limited waivers.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a nationwide limited waiver of the Buy American requirements of section 1605 of the Recovery Act under the authority of Section 1605(b)(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) with respect to: (1) Motorized automatic two wing revolving doors that open via the motor upon a fire alarm to accommodate smoke evacuation, retract to full open position under Fire Alarm status and remain in the open position until the alarm is cleared, are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and possess both sliding and swinging door that allows entry/exit through the sliding doors while the revolving section is being serviced; (2) self-contained photovoltaic LED area lighting systems with a non-corrosive, stainless steel, powder-coated anti-weathering shell, that do not succumb to the sail effect, possess flat plate lens optics with directional lamp lens, dark sky capability, and full cutoff conformity; (3) ultrasonic directional sensors and DC300 facility controllers for a parking guidance system which integrates with American designed intelligent parking guidance system software allowing real-time updates to a central location and via the Internet; (4) load Management Ripple Control Receivers for an existing load management system; and (5) LED tube lights to replace T8 fluorescents that meet the April 2010 DOE recommended performance specifications that will be used on eligible EERE-Recovery Act funded projects.

DATES:

Effective Date: September 30, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Benjamin Goldstein, Energy Technology Program Specialist, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), [phone], Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Mailstop EE-2K, Washington, DC 20585.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the authority of the Recovery Act, Public Law 111-5, section 1605(b)(2), the head of a Federal department or agency may issue a “determination of inapplicability” (a waiver of the Buy American provision) if the iron, steel, or relevant manufactured good is not produced or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality (“nonavailability”). On November 10, 2009, the Secretary of Energy delegated the authority to make all inapplicability determinations to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), for EERE projects under the Recovery Act. Pursuant to this delegation the Assistant Secretary, EERE, has concluded that (1) motorized automatic two wing revolving doors that open via the motor upon a fire alarm to accommodate smoke evacuation, retract to full open position under Fire Alarm status and remain in the open position until the alarm is cleared, are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and possess both sliding and swinging door that allows entry/exit through the sliding doors while the revolving section is being serviced; (2) self-contained photovoltaic LED area lighting systems with a non-corrosive, stainless steel, powder-coated anti-weathering shell, that do not succumb to the sail effect, possess flat plate lens optics with directional lamp lens, dark sky capability, and full cutoff conformity; (3) ultrasonic directional sensors and DC300 facility controllers for a parking guidance system which integrates with American designed intelligent parking guidance system software allowing real-time updates to a central location and via the Internet; (4) Load Management Ripple Control Receivers for an existing load management system; and (5) LED tube lights to replace T8 fluorescents that meet the April 2010 DOE recommended performance specifications, available at http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/​buildings/​publications/​pdfs/​ssl/​t8_​replacement-lamps.pdf that will be used on eligible EERE-Recovery Act funded projects qualify for the “nonavailability” waiver determination.

EERE has developed a robust process to ascertain in a systematic and expedient manner whether or not there is domestic manufacturing capacity for the items submitted for a waiver of the Recovery Act Buy American provision. This process involves a close collaboration with the United States Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), in order to scour the domestic manufacturing landscape in search of producers before making any nonavailability.

The NIST MEP has 59 regional centers with substantial knowledge of, and connections to, the domestic manufacturing sector. MEP uses their regional centers to `scout' for current or potential manufacturers of the product(s) submitted in a waiver request. In the course of this interagency collaboration, MEP has been able to find exact or partial matches for manufactured goods that EERE grantees had been unable to locate. As a result, in those cases, EERE was able to work with the grantees to procure American-made products rather than granting a waiver.

Upon receipt of completed waiver requests for the five products in the current waiver, EERE reviewed the information provided and submitted the relevant technical information to the NIST MEP. The MEP then used their network of nationwide centers to scout for domestic manufacturers. The NIST MEP reported that their scouting process did not locate any domestic manufacturers for these exact or equivalent items.

In addition to the MEP collaboration outlined above, the EERE Buy American Coordinator worked with labor unions, trade associations and other manufacturing stakeholders to scout for domestic manufacturing capacity or an equivalent product for each item contained in this waiver. EERE also conducted significant amounts of independent research to supplement MEP's scouting efforts, including utilizing the solar experts employed by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. EERE's research efforts confirmed the MEP findings that the goods included in this waiver are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality.

The nonavailability determination is also informed by the inquiries and petitions to EERE from recipients of EERE Recovery Act funds, and from suppliers, distributors, retailers and trade associations—all stating that their individual efforts to locate domestic manufacturers have been unsuccessful.

Having established a proper justification based on domestic nonavailability, EERE hereby provides notice that on September 30, 2010 five nationwide categorical waivers of section 1605 of the Recovery Act were issued as detailed supra. This notice constitutes the detailed written justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers based on a finding under subsection (b).

This waiver determination is pursuant to the delegation of authority by the Secretary of Energy to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy with respect to expenditures within the purview of her responsibility. Consequently, this waiver applies to EERE projects carried out under the Recovery Act.

Authority: Pub. L. 111-5, section 1605.

Issued in Washington, DC, on September 30, 2010.

Cathy Zoi,

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.