Notice of Buy America Waiver |
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O. Kevin Vincent
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
February 24, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9849-9851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03695]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. NHTSA--2015-0007]
Notice of Buy America Waiver
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),
Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of Buy America Waivers.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides NHTSA's finding with respect to three
requests from the North Carolina Department of Transportation,
Governor's Highway Safety Program (NCGHSP) to waive the Buy America
requirement. NHTSA finds that a non-availability waiver of the Buy
America requirement is inappropriate for the purchase of seven
different models of child safety seats because there are comparable
products produced in the United States. In addition, NHTSA finds that a
non-availability waiver is appropriate for NCGHSP to purchase e-
citation printers, and HP printer cartridges and imaging drums because
there are no comparable products produced domestically.
DATES: The effective date of this waiver is March 2, 2015. Written
comments regarding this notice may be submitted to NHTSA and must be
received on or before: March 11, 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.
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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 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 requirements, 23 U.S.C. 313, is not appropriate for NCGHSP to
purchase seven different models of child safety seats using grant funds
authorized under 23 U.S.C. 402. This notice also provides NHTSA's
finding that a non-availability waiver is appropriate for the purchase
of e-citation printers, and HP printer cartridges and imaging drums
using grant funds authorized under sections 23 U.S.C. 405(c) and 402,
respectively.
Section 402 funds are available for use by State Highway Safety
Programs that, among other things, encourage the proper use of occupant
protection devices, including child restraint systems. 23 U.S.C.
402(a). Section 405(c) funds are available for use by State highway
safety programs to support the development and implementation of
effective State programs that, among other things, improve the
timeliness, accuracy, completeness, uniformity, integration, and
accessibility of State traffic safety data. 23 U.S.C. 405(c)(1).
Buy America provides that NHTSA ``shall not obligate any funds
authorized 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).
NCGHSP seeks waivers to use Federal highway safety grant funds to
purchase (1) seven different models of child safety seats for use in
its Child Passenger Safety Program;\1\ (2) e-citation printers for use
by local police officers; and (3) Hewlett-Packard(HP) 130A LaserJet
Toner Cartridges and HP 126A LaserJet Imaging Drum CE314A for existing
printers used by occupant protection program staff in their daily
activities. In this notice, we first address the child safety seats,
then the e-citation printers, and lastly the HP cartridges and imaging
drums.
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\1\ NCGHSP requests to purchase the following models of child
safety seats: Baby Trend Inertia, Chicco Keyfit 30, Cybex Aton Q,
Graco HeadWise 70, Graco Nautilus, Graco Affix, and Evenflo Rightfit
Booster.
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NCGHSP seeks a waiver to use Federal highway safety grant funds to
purchase various models of foreign made car seats in its Child
Passenger Safety (CPS) program to train prospective and new
technicians. NCGHSP states that it is unable to identify any comparable
domestic made car seats to use in its CPS certification and renewal
training classes. However, NHTSA conducted an assessment and identified
comparable American manufactured car seats that could be used to
fulfill the purpose of NCGHSP's CPS certification and renewal training
classes. Consequently, as explained below, NHTSA has determined that a
waiver to purchase these foreign made car seats is inappropriate.
NCGHSP states the purpose of the CPS certification and renewal
training classes is to offer CPS technicians and prospective
technicians the opportunity for hands-on training of a wide variety of
child safety seats and booster seats. Based on their request, NCGHSP
seeks a Buy America waiver to purchase various foreign-made car seat
models to perform car seat training for CPS technicians and prospective
technicians. In general, the car seats that NCGHSP seeks to purchase
are categorized into four classes of seats: (1) Rear-facing only seats,
(2) convertible seats, (3) combination seats, and (4) booster seats.
NHTSA found that both Britax and Dorel manufacture seats in all four
requested classes in the United States. Based on this information,
NCGHSP has not demonstrated that it meets the Buy America waiver
requirements to purchase foreign-made child safety car seats to use in
its CPS certification and renewal training classes.
NCGHSP states that each of the seven child seats has a feature that
is not found on domestically produced car seats or the seat is popular
with consumers. NHTSA recognizes that there are dozens of different car
seat models in class of child restraints and that some domestic car
seats may lack similar features available in the car seat models
requested by North Carolina, but these features are marketing based
features that have little overall impact on the functionality of the
seats. Thus, even without the features of the car seats that NCGHSP
seeks, the overall function of domestic made seats fulfill the purpose
for the CPS certification and renewal training classes. The purpose of
these classes is to provide the basic knowledge and technical skills of
the correct use and installation of car restraints (i.e. rear facing,
convertibles, forward facing), booster seats, and seat belts necessary
to certify technicians to conduct safety inspection stations and
provide basic community education. With such a large variety of car
seats in the market, and with marketing features to distinguish a
restraint from competitors, the CPS training classes must provide basic
training that is common to all seats. A large number of domestically
produced car seats are available for this purpose. Since comparable
models of the requested classes of car seats are produced domestically,
NCGHSP's Buy America waiver is denied. NHTSA invites public comment on
this conclusion.
NCGHSP also seeks a waiver to purchase mobile printers to assist
North Carolina law enforcement agencies in participating in North
Carolina's state-wide e-citation program. North Carolina's e-citation
program is an integrated state-wide system that permits data obtained
from by an officer during a traffic stop to be available
instantaneously in the state court system. Following state procurement
procedures, NCGHSP opened a publicly advertised bid for two types of e-
citation printers: (1) Inkjet printer and (2) thermal printer. None of
the bids received offered a printer that was produced in the United
States. The specifications NCGHSP requires for the inkjet printers are
as follows: print resolution of 600 DPI Black and 4800 x 1200 DPI
color; print speed of 22 ppm Black and 18 ppm color; compatible with
Windows; Borderless printing (up to 4 x 6 in); USB 2.0 connectivity;
and Bluetooth capability. The specifications that NCGHSP requires for
thermal printers are as follows: Print resolution
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of 300 DPI; print speed of 6 ppm; compatible with Windows; must be able
to print 4'' thermal roll paper and and 8.5'' sheet feed thermal paper;
product weight of 1.1 lbs; USB 2.0 connectivity; and Bluetooth
capability.
NHTSA conducted a market analysis that did not locate any
comparable American manufactured e-citation printers that are
compatible with North Carolina's state-wide e-citation program. NHTSA
was able to identify the FieldPro Series, a direct thermal mobile
printer manufactured in the United States by Printek, Inc.\2\ However,
it does not appear that the FieldPro Series meets the specifications
required by North Carolina. The FieldPro Series printer is unable to
print 8.5'' sheet feed thermal paper; it prints at 2.8 ips and at a
resolution of 203 dps. Since the FieldPro Series printer does not meet
the specifications required by NCGHSP, NHTSA has determined that there
are no comparable products manufactured domestically. Therefore, a Buy
America waiver is appropriate since Printek's FieldPro Series does not
not meet the specification required by NCGHSP for its e-citation
program. NHTSA invites public comment on this conclusion.
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\2\ See http://www.printek.com/index.php/mobile/about.
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Lastly, NCGHSP seeks a waiver to purchase HP printer cartridges and
imaging drums for existing HP printers. The State intends to use the
printer cartridges and imaging drums in the Injury Prevention section
of its Buckle Up Kids/Safe Kids NC program. The requested equipment
will be used to print outreach and educational materials for the
program. NCGHSP states that only HP cartridges and imaging drums should
be used in the program's HP printers because equipment produced by
other manufacturers may cause degradation or quality issues when used
in place of HP products. It is unable to identify any printer
cartridges and imaging drums for existing HP printers that meet the Buy
America requirements. The State noted that HP is a large, multinational
corporation with facilities, including manufacturing facilities, world-
wide. NCGHSP is unable to identify the location of the facilities that
produce the replacement HP printer cartridges and imaging drums. NHTSA
conducted similar assessments and cannot confirm that HP printer
cartridges and imaging drums are produced domestically and is not aware
of any comparable printer cartridges and imaging drums produced in the
United States. Therefore, the Buy America waiver is appropriate. NHTSA
invites public comment on this conclusion.
In light of the above discussion, and pursuant to 23 U.S.C.
313(b)(2), NHTSA finds that it is appropriate to grant waivers from the
Buy America requirements to NCGHSP in order for it to use Federal
highway safety grant funds to purchase e-citation printers and HP
printer cartridges and imaging drums. These waivers apply to North
Carolina and all other States seeking to use section 405(c) funds to
purchase e-citation printers meeting the specifications described above
and section 402 funds for HP printer cartridges and imaging drums for
the purposes mentioned herein. These waivers will continue through
fiscal year 2015 and will allow the purchase of these items as required
for North Carolina's Governor's Highway Safety Program. Accordingly,
these waivers will expire at the conclusion of fiscal year 2015
(September 30, 2015). 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 requirement is appropriate.
NHTSA also determines that it is inappropriate to grant a waiver
from the Buy America requirement for NCGHSP to use Federal highway
safety grant funds to purchase various models of car seats in its Child
Passenger Safety Program.
Written comments on these findings may be submitted through any of
the methods discussed above. NHTSA may reconsider these findings, if
through comment, it learns of additional relevant information regarding
its decisions related to NCGHSP's waiver requests.
These findings 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.
Authority: 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 110-161.
Issued in Washington, DC under authority delegated in 49 CFR
1.95.
O. Kevin Vincent,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-03695 Filed 2-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P