[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 231 (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71504-71505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28365]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket No. FRA-2012-0033]
Notice of Intent To Grant Buy America Waivers to National
Railroad Passenger Corporation and California High-Speed Rail Authority
for the Non-Domestic Final Assembly of Four ``Prototype'' Tier III
High-Speed Rail Trainsets
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), United States Department
of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of intent to grant Buy America waivers.
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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it
intends to grant the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)
and California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) waivers from FRA's
Buy America requirement for the non-domestic final assembly of up to
four (two for Amtrak; two for the Authority) ``prototype'' Tier III
high-speed rail (HSR) trainsets in connection with the procurement of
HSR trainsets. These waivers apply only to the final assembly of up to
two prototype HSR trainsets each for Amtrak and the Authority. Each
waiver is subject to the following condition: Before issuing a ``Notice
To Proceed'' to any selected supplier, Amtrak and the Authority each
must certify and provide support to FRA that its selected supplier
still has not established domestic manufacturing facilities capable of
assembling the prototypes and delivering them within a reasonable time.
All components used in the prototypes must still be domestically
manufactured or separate waivers for components requested and granted
before assembly of the prototypes can commence.
DATES: Written comments on FRA's determination to grant Amtrak's and
the Authority's Buy America waiver requests should be provided to the
FRA on or before December 17, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means,
identifying your submissions by docket number FRA-2012-0033. All
electronic submissions must be made to the U.S. Government electronic
site at http://www.regulations.gov. Commenters should follow the
instructions below for mailed and hand-delivered comments.
(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, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001;
or
(4) Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the first floor of the West
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All submissions must make reference to the ``Federal
Railroad Administration'' and include docket number FRA-2012-0033. Due
to security procedures in effect since October 2001, 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 on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or visit
http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John Johnson, Attorney-Advisor,
FRA Office of Chief Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Mail Stop 25,
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-0078, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it intends to
grant Amtrak's and the Authority's requests for waivers from FRA's Buy
America requirement, 49 U.S.C. 24405(a), for the non-domestic final
assembly of up to four (two for Amtrak; two for the Authority)
``prototype'' Tier III high-speed rail (HSR) trainsets in connection
with the procurement of HSR trainsets. These ``prototype'' Tier III HSR
trainsets will be delivered to Amtrak and the Authority for use in
passenger (revenue) service. Please note that the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) would use the term ``pilot'' to describe these
vehicles. Because some time may elapse between granting these waivers
and construction of prototype HSR trainsets, each waiver has the
following condition: Before issuing a ``Notice To Proceed'' to any
selected supplier, Amtrak and the Authority each must certify and
provide support to FRA that its selected supplier still has not
established domestic manufacturing facilities capable of assembling the
prototypes and delivering them within a reasonable time. In addition,
all components used in the prototypes must still be domestically
manufactured or separate waivers for components requested and granted
before assembly of the prototypes can commence.
The larger projects underlying these waiver requests are Amtrak's
and the Authority's plans to advance HSR on the Northeast Corridor and
in California, respectively. In near identical waiver requests Amtrak
and the Authority asserted that the projects require the purchase and
use of high-quality, service-proven FRA Tier III Next Generation
Trainsets, including two prototype HSR trainsets for each project.
FRA's Buy America requirement for rolling stock, including HSR
trainsets, requires domestic final assembly of the trainsets and that
all of the components be manufactured in the United States. More
information about FRA's Buy America requirement is available at http://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0185. Section 24405(a)(2) also permits the
Secretary of Transportation (delegated to the FRA Administrator) to
waive the Buy America requirements if the Secretary finds that: (A)
applying paragraph (1) would be inconsistent with the public interest;
(B) the steel, iron, and goods manufactured in the United States are
not produced in sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not
of a satisfactory quality; (C) rolling stock or power train equipment
cannot be bought or delivered to the United States within a reasonable
time; or (D) including domestic material will increase the cost of the
overall project by more than 25 percent.
FRA believes a waiver is appropriate under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(C)
because domestically-produced HSR trainsets meeting the specific
technical, design, and schedule needs of Amtrak and the
[[Page 71505]]
Authority are not currently available in the United States. There is no
assembly or testing facility for HSR trainsets operating at speeds
greater than 160 mph in the United States. Moreover, FRA estimates that
it could take HSR trainset manufacturers a minimum of one-and-a-half to
two years to establish the required facilities to support a domestic
HSR trainset assembly capability. This includes any HSR trainset
manufacturers that currently have passenger railcar manufacturing
facilities in the United States. For example, in addition to acquiring
specialized machinery and training and hiring the workforce, these
manufacturers' plants are currently customized for steel railcars, and
HSR trainsets use aluminum, which requires different manufacturing
techniques.
In addition, Tier III HSR is a significant new technology for the
U.S. market, and safety is a significant factor. Allowing final
assembly of the prototype HSR trainsets at the manufacturer's existing
non-domestic facilities is necessary to ensure that expected safety
benefits of ``service-proven'' systems are secured, to enable training
of domestic workers, and to assure successful technology transfer. For
example, rather than attempting to establish new manufacturing and
assembly processes at a domestic facility while simultaneously
integrating and testing HSR trainset designs, the selected
manufacturer(s) can focus on identifying and remedying any defects in
the designs specific to Amtrak and the Authority and their operations
in the United States. FRA concludes that integrating manufacturing,
assembly, and labor resources into the prototype production, among
other suggested actions by Amtrak and the Authority, will facilitate
the development of domestic HSR production facilities. This same
``human technology transfer'' has been successful in other global HSR
installations in South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Spain.
On March 14, 2014, FRA published on its Web site public notice of
Amtrak's and the Authority's waiver requests. FRA received 13 online
comments and one mailed response to this notice. None of the commenters
identified a domestic source for HSR trainsets. Of the 14 comments, 10
commenters indicated they were against granting the waiver; four were
for granting the waiver. Of the 10 comments ``against,'' four were not
responsive to the notice. Of the six remaining dissenters, they mainly
disagreed with Amtrak's and the Authority's argument that HSR trainsets
cannot be delivered in a reasonable time because Amtrak and the
Authority could wait for domestic assembly. While this is theoretically
possible, significant capacity and technology transfer problems are
probable, and FRA believes that the one-and-a-half to two-year minimum
delay could negatively impact the schedules proposed by Amtrak and the
Authority. In addition, as noted above, FRA believes that allowing the
prototypes to be assembled at the manufacturers' non-domestic factories
will facilitate the successful technology transfer and training of U.S.
workers. Finally, because FRA is limiting the waivers to final assembly
of up to four prototypes with the expectation that the training of
domestic resources will occur simultaneously, FRA is not delaying or
preventing the establishment of the selected supplier's domestic
assembly facilities. FRA finds that this delay to provide ``service-
proven'' systems makes the prototypes not available within a
``reasonable time.'' Therefore, waivers are appropriate.
FRA will publish the letters granting Amtrak's and the Authority's
waiver requests on its Web site at: http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L16035 and http://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/Details/L16036,
respectively.
Issued in Washington, DC on November 26, 2014.
Melissa L. Porter,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2014-28365 Filed 12-1-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P