Notice of Buy America Waiver |
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Paul A. Hemmersbaugh
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
November 19, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 223 (Thursday, November 19, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72480-72482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29528]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0111]
Notice of Buy America Waiver
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Buy America waiver.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides NHTSA's finding with respect to a request
to waive the requirements of Buy America from the North Carolina
Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP). NHTSA finds that a non-
availability waiver of the Buy America requirement is appropriate for
the purchase of a Nikon prismless total station using Federal highway
traffic safety grant funds because there are no suitable products
produced in the United States.
DATES: The effective date of this waiver is December 4, 2015. Written
comments regarding this notice may be submitted to NHTSA and must be
received on or before: December 4, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted using any one of the
following methods:
Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
Fax: Written comments may be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
Internet: To submit comments electronically, go to the
Federal regulations Web site at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
online instructions for submitting comments.
Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140,
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Instructions: All comments submitted in relation to this waiver
must include the agency name and docket number. Please note that all
comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. You
may also call the Docket at 202-366-9324.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For program issues, contact Barbara
Sauers, Office of Regional Operations and Program Delivery, NHTSA
(phone: 202-366-0144). For legal issues, contact Andrew DiMarsico,
Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA (phone: 202-366-5263). You may send mail
to these officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice provides NHTSA's finding that a
waiver of the Buy America requirement, 23 U.S.C. 313, is appropriate
for North Carolina's GHSP to purchase a Nikon Nivo 5M Plus and its
accessories for $8,995 using grant funds authorized under 23 U.S.C.
402. Section 402 funds are available for use by state highway safety
programs that, among other things, reduce or prevent injuries and
deaths resulting from speeding motor vehicles, driving while impaired
by alcohol and or drugs, motorcycle accidents, school bus accidents,
and unsafe driving behavior. 23 U.S.C. 402(a). Section 402 funds are
also available to state programs that encourage the proper use of
occupant protection devices and improve law enforcement services in
motor vehicle accident prevention, traffic supervision, and post-
accident procedures. Id.
Buy America provides that NHTSA ``shall not obligate any funds
authorized
[[Page 72481]]
to be appropriated to carry out the Surface Transportation Assistance
Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 2097) or [Title 23] and administered by the
Department of Transportation, unless steel, iron, and manufactured
products used in such project are produced in the United States.'' 23
U.S.C. 313. However, NHTSA may waive those requirements if ``(1) their
application would be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) such
materials and products are not produced in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory
quality; or (3) the inclusion of domestic material will increase the
cost of the overall project contract by more than 25 percent.'' 23
U.S.C. 313(b).
Recently, NHTSA published its finding that a public interest waiver
of the Buy America requirements is appropriate for a manufactured
product whose purchase price is $5,000 or less, excluding a motor
vehicle, when such product is purchased using Federal grant funds
administered under Chapter 4 of Title 23 of the United States Code. See
80 FR 37359 (June 30, 2015). Under the public interest waiver,
therefore, states are no longer required to submit a waiver of Buy
America to NHTSA for items costing $5,000 or less, except for motor
vehicles, when they purchase the item with Federal grant funds.
In this instance, the North Carolina's GHSP seeks a waiver to
purchase one (1) Nikon Nivo 5M Plus Reflectorless Total Station
equipment \1\ for its subgrantee, the Raleigh Police Department, using
Federal grant funds, at a cost of $8,995.\2\ A total station is an
electronic/optical instrument used in modern surveying and accident
reconstruction. Specifically, a total station is an electronic
theodolite integrated with an electronic distance meter to read slope
distances from the instrument to a particular point. According to North
Carolina's GHSP, the total station provides law enforcement with the
equipment necessary to provide accurate and detailed crash
reconstruction to aid in improving highway safety and for use with the
enforcement of traffic safety laws. North Carolina's GHSP states that
the total station reduces the time officers need to stand in the
roadway with a prism to mark evidence at crash scenes. In addition, the
State notes that, with a total station, evidence can be plotted from
the side of the road after a roadway has been opened to traffic.
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\1\ The Nikon Nivo 5M Plus Reflectorless total station has
integrated Bluetooth technology, and includes battery packs, a dual
charger, lens cap, CD manual, hard carrying case, tripod, prism kit,
prism pole, prism pole bag, strobe prism with tilting mount,
carrying bag and data cable.
\2\ As part of its waiver request, GHSP submitted a sales quote
for the Nikon total station that included seven (7) additional items
costing less than $5,000. Because these additional items are under
the $5,000 threshold of NHTSA's public interest waiver, NHTSA did
not conduct a market analysis for these items.
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In support of its waiver request, North Carolina's GHSP states that
there are no total station models that are manufactured or assembled in
the United States. The state contacted total station equipment
manufacturers to learn of the origin of their equipment. While several
domestic corporations offer total station equipment for sale, North
Carolina states its research revealed that all total stations are
manufactured overseas. It discovered that CT Berger (China), Leica
(Switzerland) Nikon (Japan), Spectra Precision (Japan), Northwest
Instruments (China), Topcon (Japan), and Trimble (Sweden) total station
equipment are all foreign made.
NHTSA agrees that the total stations advance the purpose of section
402 to improve law enforcement services in motor vehicle accident
prevention and post-accident reconstruction and enforcement. A total
station is an on-scene reconstruction tool that assists in the
determination of the cause of the crash and can support crash
investigations. It is an electronic/optical instrument that specializes
in surveying with tools to provide precise measurements for diagraming
crash scenes, including a laser range finder and a computer to assist
law enforcement to determine post-accident reconstruction. The total
station system is designed to gather evidence of the events leading up
to, during and following a crash. These tools are used to gather
evidence to determine such facts as minimum speed at the time of a
crash, the critical speed of a roadway curve, the distance a vehicle
may have traveled when out of control and other factors that involve a
crash investigation. In some instances, the facts collected through the
use of a total station are used to form a basis of a criminal charge or
evidence in a criminal prosecution.
NHTSA conducted similar assessments \3\ to those conducted by North
Carolina's GHSP. NHTSA was unable to locate domestic manufacturers of
total stations with the specifications that North Carolina's GHSP
required. In addition to the manufacturers researched by North
Carolina's GHSP, and confirmed by the agency's research, NHTSA
identified the following total station manufacturers and their
production locations: Hi-Target Instrument Surveying Co. Ltd. (China);
geo-Fennel GmbH (Germany); Hilti (Liechtenstein); North Surveying
(Spain); South Precision Instrument (China); Ruide Surveying Instrument
Co. (China); Pentex (Japan/China); and Topcon (Japan, China and
Thailand). Based upon NHTSA's market analysis, it is unaware of any
total station equipment that is manufactured domestically. Since a
total station is unavailable from a domestic manufacturer and the
equipment would assist in post-accident reconstruction and enforcement
to advance the purpose of 23 U.S.C. 402, a Buy America waiver is
appropriate. NHTSA invites public comment on this conclusion.
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\3\ NHTSA conducted internet searches and reviewed several Web
sites that catalog domestic made products (www.usaonly.us;
www.americansworking.com; www.madeinamericaforever.com; and
www.madeinusa.org) to locate domestically made Total Station
equipment.
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In light of the above discussion, and pursuant to 23 U.S.C.
313(b)(2), NHTSA finds that it is appropriate to grant a waiver from
the Buy America requirements to North Carolina's GHSP in order to
purchase the Nikon Nivo 5M Plus Reflectorless Total Station equipment.
This waiver applies to North Carolina and all other states seeking to
use section 402 funds to purchase Nikon Nivo 5m Plus Reflectorless
total stations for the purposes mentioned herein. This waiver is
effective through fiscal year 2016 and expires at the conclusion of
that fiscal year (September 30, 2016). In accordance with the
provisions of Section 117 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy of Users Technical Corrections Act
of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-244, 122 Stat. 1572), NHTSA is providing this
notice as its finding that a waiver of the Buy America requirements is
appropriate for the Nikon Nivo 5m Plus Reflectorless total station.
Written comments on this finding may be submitted through any of
the methods discussed above. NHTSA may reconsider this finding if,
through comment, it learns additional relevant information regarding
its decision to grant the North Carolina's GHSP waiver request.
This finding should not be construed as an endorsement or approval
of any products by NHTSA or the U.S. Department of Transportation. The
United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers.
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Authority: 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 110-161.
Paul A. Hemmersbaugh,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-29528 Filed 11-18-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P