[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 118 (Monday, June 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35920-35922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15295]
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Buy American Waiver Under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009
AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: NSF is hereby granting a limited exemption of section 1605 of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act),
Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115, 303 (2009), with respect to the
purchase of the ultrasonic antifouling system that will be used in the
Alaska Region Research Vessel (ARRV). An ultrasonic antifouling system
prevents the harmful growth of marine organisms in the ship's sea water
inlets and piping systems.
DATES: June 20, 2011.
ADDRESSES: National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington,
Virginia 22230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Leithead, Division of
Acquisition and Cooperative Support, 703-292-4595.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 1605(c) of the
Recovery Act and section 176.80 of Title 2 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hereby provides
notice that on May 25, 2011, the NSF Chief Financial Officer, in
accordance with a delegation order from the Director of the agency,
granted a limited project exemption of section 1605 of the Recovery Act
(Buy American provision) with respect to the ultrasonic antifouling
system that will be used in the ARRV. The basis for this exemption is
section 1605(b)(2) of the Recovery Act, in that an ultrasonic
antifouling system of satisfactory quality is not produced in the
United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial
quantities. The cost of the ultrasonic antifouling system (~$21,000)
represents less than 0.1% of the total $148 million Recovery Act award
provided toward construction of the ARRV.
I. Background
The Recovery Act appropriated $400 million to NSF for several
projects being funded by the Foundation's Major Research Equipment and
Facilities Construction (MREFC) account. The ARRV is one of NSF's MREFC
projects. Section 1605(a) of the Recovery Act, the Buy American
provision, states that none of the funds appropriated by the Act ``may
be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or
[[Page 35921]]
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.''
The ARRV has been developed under a cooperative agreement awarded
to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) that began in 2007. UAF
executed the shipyard contract in December 2009 and the project is
proceeding toward construction. The purpose of the Recovery Act is to
stimulate economic recovery in part by funding current construction
projects like the ARRV that are ``shovel ready'' without requiring
projects to revise their standards and specifications, or to restart
the bidding process again.
Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the Recovery Act authorize the head
of a Federal department or agency to waive the Buy American provision
if the head of the agency finds that: (1) Applying the provision would
be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) the relevant goods are
not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably
available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or (3) the
inclusion of the goods produced in the United States will increase the
cost of the project by more than 25 percent. If the head of the Federal
department or agency waives the Buy American provision, then the head
of the department or agency is required to publish a detailed
justification in the Federal Register. Finally, section 1605(d) of the
Recovery Act states that the Buy American provision must be applied in
a manner consistent with the United States' obligations under
international agreements.
II. Finding That Relevant Goods Are Not Produced in the United States
in Sufficient and Reasonably Available Quality
Installation of an ultrasonic antifouling system is included in the
construction specifications of the ARRV to prevent the growth of marine
organisms in the ship's sea water inlets and piping systems. Harmful
marine organisms for ships include barnacles, shellfish and grasses and
are known collectively as ``biofouling.'' There are five inlets and
piping systems on the ARRV that require protection; two that supply
seawater for scientific purposes, and three that supply cooling water
to the main machinery and auxiliary systems. Main machinery includes
diesel engines on the generators and main electric propulsion motors.
Auxiliary machinery includes fire fighting, ballast and heating
ventilating and air conditioning systems. If the growth of these
organisms goes un-checked, the water flow to the machinery will
decrease to the point where they will not perform as required or damage
will occur as a result of overheating. Science seawater systems include
uncontaminated seawater for sampling as the ship is underway, and
incubator water for keeping samples at the current sea surface
temperature. If the flow to the science seawater systems is reduced, or
contaminated with undesirable marine growth or chemicals from a
different kind of antifouling system, the data collected could be
severely compromised and not meet scientific data quality requirements.
Design drivers for selecting the type of anti-fouling system used
include:
1. Proven ability to control marine growth in inlets and piping
2. No chemical contamination of the seawater itself. Failure to
meet either of these technical requirements would have severe negative
consequences for the project with regard to nonperformance and
significant added program cost.
An ultrasonic antifouling system produces low level sound waves in
the water of a certain frequency that discourages marine organisms from
growing in the area. Specifying such a system prevents the vessel from
having to use other methods that potentially contaminate the water with
biocides, such as anti-fouling paints (which generally contain copper)
or other systems which inject chemicals. Both of these chemical-based
methods would have a detrimental effect on the uncontaminated science
seawater system by introducing chemicals that would skew the natural
elements being studied and thus produce erroneous data. An ultrasonic
system has zero discharges into the water and is proven technology that
offers excellent protection against marine biofouling in localized
areas. Use of such a system will help ensure that science samples are
taken from ``pure'' sea water to the maximum extent possible.
The daily cost of operations for the ARRV is estimated at $45,000
per day in 2014 dollars, or $12.6M/year for 280 days at sea. Given that
the science seawater system is employed on nearly every multi-
disciplinary science cruise, the loss to science and the federal ship
funding agencies could be significant if samples were found to be
contaminated or otherwise compromised. A main machinery casualty from
overheating could result in the loss or re-scheduling of weeks of ship
time and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs.
The initial market research for availability of an ultrasonic
antifouling system was done by UAF in 2009. Only two sources were
identified world-wide and none were manufactured in the U.S. As noted
in UAF's request for this exemption, the shipyard performed market
research in late 2010 by reviewing industry publications and the
internet in order to assess whether there exists a domestic capability
to provide an ultrasonic antifouling system that meets the necessary
requirements. None were found. The result of the shipyard's independent
market research remains consistent with a determination made by the UAF
project team in 2009.
The project's conclusion is there are no U.S. manufacturers who
produce a suitable ultrasonic antifouling system that meets all of the
ARRV requirements so an exemption to the Buy American requirements is
necessary.
In the absence of a domestic supplier that could provide a
requirements-compliant ultrasonic antifouling system, UAF requested
that NSF issue a Section 1605 exemption determination with respect to
the purchase of a foreign-supplied, requirements-compliant ultrasonic
antifouling system, so that the vessel will meet the specific design
and technical requirements which, as explained above, are necessary for
this vessel to be able to perform its mission safely and successfully.
Furthermore, the shipyard's market research was consistent with UAF's
and indicated that an ultrasonic antifouling system compliant with the
ARRV's technical specifications and requirements is commercially
available from foreign vendors within their standard product lines.
NSF's Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support (DACS) and
other NSF program staff reviewed the UAF exemption request submittal,
found that it was complete, and determined that sufficient technical
information was provided in order for NSF to evaluate the exemption
request and to conclude that an exemption is needed and should be
granted.
III. Exemption
On May 25, 2011, based on the finding that no domestically produced
ultrasonic antifouling system met all of the ARRV's technical
specifications and requirements and pursuant to section 1605(b), the
NSF Chief Financial Officer, in accordance with a delegation order from
the Director of the agency signed on May 27, 2010, granted a limited
project exemption of the Recovery Act's Buy American requirements with
respect to the procurement of an ultrasonic antifouling system.
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Dated: June 14, 2011.
Lawrence Rudolph,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-15295 Filed 6-17-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P