[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9906-9907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3939]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
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.
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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 Recovery Act projects
funded by EERE for ((1) 400 amp Dual Element Time-Delay Fuses for
electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging station; (2) Video
imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and data
detection; (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum
static pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where
the 3.0 water column is a requirement of the system); and (4) network
manager for conversion of proprietary protocol--Staefa brand system--to
a non-proprietary open source protocol.
DATES: Effective Date: 01/24/2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Platt-Patrick, Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), (202) 287-1553,
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Mailstop EE-2K,
Washington, DC 20585.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (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''). The authority of the Secretary of Energy to make
all inapplicability determinations was re-delegated to the Assistant
Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), for EERE
projects under the Recovery Act, in Redelegation Order No. 00-002.01E,
dated April 25, 2011. Pursuant to this delegation the Acting Assistant
Secretary, EERE, has concluded that: (1) 400amp Dual Element Time-Delay
Fuses for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging station;
(2) Video imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and
data detection; (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum
static pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where
the 3.0 water column is a requirement of the system); and (4) network
manager for conversion of proprietary protocol--Staefa brand system--to
a non-proprietary open source protocol, are not produced or
manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably
available quantities and of a satisfactory quality. The above items,
when 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 determinations.
The 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
[[Page 9907]]
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 four products in
the current waiver, EERE reviewed the information provided and
submitted the relevant technical information to the MEP. The MEP then
used their network of nationwide centers to scout for domestic
manufacturers. The 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 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
for these items have been unsuccessful.
Specific technical information for the manufactured goods included
in this non-availability determination is detailed below:
(1) 400amp Dual Element Time-Delay Fuses for electric vehicle
supply equipment (EVSE) charging station
These are used in the installation of EV charging stations. Two
national trade organizations representing American manufacturers of
this equipment verified that these are not manufactured in the US.
Further, MEP did not identify a potential manufacturer.
(2) Video imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and
data detection
These card racks are installed into existing traffic systems and
are not manufactured domestically. Neither transportation manufacturing
trade associations nor MEP identified any US manufacturer of this
product.
(3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum static
pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where the 3.0
water column is a requirement of the system)
This waiver is limited to systems that require compatibility with
this extremely high water column. No US manufacturers (four
manufacturers of this type of equipment were identified by EERE and MEP
and contacted) were able to meet this need.
(4) Network manager for conversion of proprietary protocol- Staefa
brand system to a non-proprietary open source protocol
For use where a Staefa system was installed previously, and where
utilizing a domestic control module would mean that the existing energy
management controls would have to be removed and a new energy
management controls system would have to replace the existing Staefa
system. This product allows the grantee to convert from the proprietary
protocol to an open-source protocol- providing a wider variety of
controls in the future.
In these cases, the grantee is unable to use a domestic control
module because the existing system runs off of a proprietary
communication protocol (rather than LON or BACnet), and the entire
system would have to be replaced to install additional controllers.
Trade organizations, DOE and MEP all agreed that this was the only
controller capable of properly interfacing with this protocol.
In light of the foregoing, and under the authority of section
1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5 and Redelegation Order 00-002-01E, with
respect to Recovery Act projects funded by EERE, I hereby issue a
``determination of inapplicability'' (a waiver under the Recovery Act
Buy American provision) for: ((1) 400amp Dual Element Time-Delay Fuses
for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) charging station; (2)
Video imaging card rack mounted boards for vehicle presence and data
detection; (3) 20-ton split system heat pump that meets a minimum
static pressure requirement of 3.0 inches of water column (only where
the 3.0 water column is a requirement of the system); and (4) network
manager for conversion of proprietary protocol- Staefa brand system- to
a non-proprietary open source protocol.
Having established a proper justification based on domestic
nonavailability, EERE hereby provides notice that on January 24, 2012,
four (4) 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 his responsibility. Consequently, this waiver
applies to all EERE projects carried out under the Recovery Act.
Authority: Pub. L. 111-5, section 1605.
Dated: Issued in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2012.
Henry Kelly,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,
U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2012-3939 Filed 2-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P