Buy America Waiver Notification

Victor M. Mendez
Federal Highway Administration
October 19, 2010

[Federal Register: October 19, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 201)]
[Notices]               
[Page 64394]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19oc10-105]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

 
Buy America Waiver Notification

AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides information regarding the FHWA's finding 
that a Buy America waiver is appropriate for the use of non-domestic 
Steel Pipe; A53 Grade B, 26'' OD, 0.375'' wall for construction of a 
Recovery Act project on SR 60, Section A40, in Allegheny County, 
Pennsylvania.

DATES: The effective date of the waiver is October 20, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this notice, 
please contact Mr. Gerald Yakowenko, FHWA Office of Program 
Administration, (202) 366-1562, or via e-mail at 
gerald.yakowenko@dot.gov. For legal questions, please contact Mr. 
Michael Harkins, FHWA Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366-4928, or 
via e-mail at michael.harkins@dot.gov. Office hours for the FHWA are 
from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., est., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded from the 
Federal Register's home page at: http://www.archives.gov and the 
Government Printing Office's database at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/
nara.

Background

    The FHWA's Buy America policy in 23 CFR 635.410 requires a domestic 
manufacturing process for any steel or iron products (including 
protective coatings) that are permanently incorporated in a Federal-aid 
construction project. The regulation also provides for a waiver of the 
Buy America requirements when the application would be inconsistent 
with the public interest or when satisfactory quality domestic steel 
and iron products are not sufficiently available. This notice provides 
information regarding the FHWA's finding that a Buy America waiver is 
appropriate to use non-domestic Steel Pipe; A53 Grade B, 26'' OD, 
0.375'' wall for a portion of sign support structure No. S-28760 
proposed for Recovery Act project on SR 60 in Alleghany County, PA.
    In accordance with Division A, section 123 of the ``Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2010'' (Pub. L. 111-117), the FHWA published a 
notice of intent to issue a waiver on its Web site Steel Pipe; A53 
Grade B, 26'' OD, 0.375'' wall (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/
contracts/waivers.cfm?id=51) on July 16th. The FHWA received five 
comments in response to the publication. The five comments suggested 
different domestic manufacturers of Steel Pipe; A53 Grade B and opposed 
the approval of the waiver request. The PennDOT contacted the potential 
domestic manufactures Berg Steel Corporation, McJunkin Red Man 
Corporation, and Trinity Prod. Berg Steel corporation stated that they 
do not have inventory in the pipe size requested. McJunkin Red Man 
Corporation responded that their pipe size is only 24'' OD and not up 
to 26'' OD. Trinity Prod. indicated that it can make the pipe size up 
to 26'' OD, but the required quantity is less than 600 tons which is 
required to establish a production run. During the 15-day comment 
period, the FHWA conducted additional nationwide review to locate 
potential domestic manufacturers for a Steel Pipe; A53 Grade B, 26'' 
OD, 0.375'' wall. Based on all the information available to the agency, 
the FHWA concludes that there are no domestic manufacturers of Steel 
Pipe; A53 Grade B, 26'' OD, 0.375'' wall. Given the lack of current 
availability for domestic steel for this particular application, the 
FHWA has discussed the need for PennDOT to consider alternate designs 
using domestic steel on future Federal-aid projects.
    In accordance with the provisions of section 117 of the Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-244, 122 Stat. 
1572), the FHWA is providing this notice as its finding that a waiver 
of Buy America requirements is appropriate. The FHWA invites public 
comment on this finding for an additional 15 days following the 
effective date of the finding. Comments may be submitted to the FHWA's 
Web site via the link provided to the Pennsylvania waiver page noted 
above.

    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 110-161, 23 CFR 635.410.

    Issued on: October 7, 2010.
Victor M. Mendez,
Federal Highway Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010-26299 Filed 10-18-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P