[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 140 (Wednesday, July 22, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43553-43554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17910]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration
[Docket No. FTA-2015-0010]
Notice of Proposed Buy America Waiver for a Variable Refrigerant
Flow HVAC System
AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed Buy America waiver and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received a request
for a waiver to permit the purchase of a Variable Refrigerant Flow
(VRF) HVAC system that is non-compliant with Buy America requirements
using FTA funding. The request is from the City of Kansas City,
Missouri (Kansas City) for its Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF)
associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Project. In
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A), FTA is providing notice of the
waiver request and seeks public comment before deciding whether to
grant the request. If granted, the waiver would apply only to the FTA-
funded procurement of a VRF HVAC system by Kansas City.
DATES: Comments must be received by August 5, 2015. Late-filed comments
will be considered to the extent practicable.
[[Page 43554]]
ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means,
identifying your submissions by docket number FTA-2014-0021:
1. Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions
for submitting comments on the U.S. Government electronic docket site.
2. Fax: (202) 493-2251.
3. Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue
SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
4. Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must make reference to the ``Federal
Transit Administration'' and include docket number FTA-2014-0021. Due
to the security procedures in effect since October 2011, mail received
through the U.S. Postal Service may be subject to delays. Parties
making submissions responsive to this notice should consider using an
express mail firm to ensure the prompt filing of any submissions not
filed electronically or by hand. Note that all submissions received,
including any personal information therein, will be posted without
change or alteration to http://www.regulations.gov. For more
information, you may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the
Federal Register published April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may
visit http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard L. Wong, FTA Attorney-Advisor,
at (202) 366-4011 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA seeks comment on whether it should grant
a non-availability waiver for the Kansas City procurement of a VRF HVAC
system for its VMF associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar
Project, using FTA grant funding.
With certain exceptions, FTA's Buy America requirements prevent FTA
from obligating an amount that may be appropriated to carry out its
program for a project unless ``the steel, iron, and manufactured goods
used in the project are produced in the United States.'' 49 U.S.C.
5323(j)(1). A manufactured product is considered produced in the United
States if: (1) All of the manufacturing processes for the product must
take place in the United States; and (2) all of the components of the
product must be of U.S. origin. A component is considered of U.S.
origin if it is manufactured in the United States, regardless of the
origin of its subcomponents. 49 CFR 661.5(d). If, however, FTA
determines that ``the steel, iron, and goods produced in the United
States are not produced in a sufficient and reasonably available amount
or are not of a satisfactory quality,'' then FTA may issue a waiver
(non-availability waiver). 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(2)(B); 49 CFR 661.7(c).
Kansas City is requesting a non-availability waiver for its
procurement of a VRF HVAC system that will be installed in a VMF in
Kansas City, Missouri, that will service its street cars. This facility
is being built to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and will incorporate a
number of sustainable and energy efficient elements. One of those
elements is a VRF HVAC system that, among other things, is space
saving, has invertor technology, efficiency, and a non-ozone depleting
refrigerant that domestic manufacturers of HVAC systems do not provide.
According to Kansas City, its contractor was directed to evaluate the
substitution of a Buy America-compliant Variable Air Volume (VAV)
system, but the contractor advised Kansas City that the VAV system
would endanger the project's LEED Gold certification because of the
difference in efficiency between the VAV and VRF HVAC systems. In
addition, the substitution of a VAV system would require significant
changes to the project, such as the alteration of already-erected
structural elements that were designed to accommodate a VRF system and
additional design changes and plan reviews by Kansas City.
Kansas City points to two recent non-availability waivers FTA
issued to the San Bernardino Associated Governments (79 FR 61129,
October 9, 2014) and Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit
District for a similar VRF system (79 FR 34653, June 17, 2014), as well
as to a blanket non-availability waiver issued by the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) in 2010 for VRF HVAC systems procured with American
Reinvestment and Recovery Act funding (75 FR 35447, June 22, 2010).
According to Kansas City, the U.S. DOE's determination of non-
availability and FTA's recent waivers, as well as their own
contractor's research, indicate that this product is not manufactured
domestically. Finally, FTA, in collaboration with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology's Hollings Manufacturing
Extension Partnership, conducted a nationwide search to determine if
any company currently manufactures a compatible VRF system that
complies with Buy-America. The search revealed that no company
currently can provide a Buy-America compliant VRF system that meets
Kansas City's specifications.
The purpose of this notice is to publish Kansas City's request and
to seek public comment from all interested parties in accordance with
49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A). Comments will help FTA understand completely
the facts surrounding the request, including the effects of a potential
waiver and the merits of the request. A full copy of the request has
been placed in docket number FTA-2015-0010.
Dana Nifosi,
Acting Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-17910 Filed 7-21-15; 8:45 am]
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