Buy America Waiver Notification

Victor M. Mendez
Federal Highway Administration
September 10, 2013

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55337-55338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21984]


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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 five non-
domestic 14'' class 150 cast steel gate valves for rehabilitation of 
the Oxbow Bridge project in the State of Ohio.

DATES: The effective date of the waiver is September 11, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this notice, 
please contact Mr. Gerald Yakowenko, FHWA Office of Program 
Administration, (202) 366-1562, or via email at 
gerald.yakowenko@dot.gov. For legal questions, please contact Mr. 
Michael Harkins, FHWA Office of the Chief Counsel, (202) 366-4928, or 
via email at michael.harkins@dot.gov. Office hours for the FHWA are 
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., e.t., 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.

[[Page 55338]]

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 five non-domestic 14'' class 150 cast steel gate 
valves for rehabilitation of the Oxbow Bridge project in the State of 
Ohio.
    In accordance with Division A, section 122 of the ``Consolidated 
and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012'' (Pub. L. 112-55), the 
FHWA published a notice of intent to issue a waiver on its Web site for 
five 14'' class 150 cast steel gate valves for rehabilitation of the 
Oxbow Bridge project in the State of Ohio (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/contracts/waivers.cfm?id=86) on March 25th. The FHWA 
received no comments in response to the publication. The Manufacturing 
Extension Partnership (MEP)--a program of the U.S. Department of 
Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology--conducted a 
Supplier Scouting analysis of domestic manufacturing capabilities and 
capacity for the production of the five 14'' class 150 cast steel gate 
valves for the bridge rehabilitation project in the State of Ohio. The 
MEP identified some domestic suppliers capable of casting part of the 
steel gate valve but not the complete 14'' class 150 cast steel gate 
valve. However, the Ohio Department of Transportation's coordination 
with these identified suppliers found that these entities could not 
supply the specified product. During the 15-day comment period, the 
FHWA conducted additional nationwide review to locate potential 
domestic manufacturers of the five 14'' class 150 cast steel gate 
valves. Based on all the information available to the agency, the FHWA 
concludes that there are no domestic manufacturers of the five 14'' 
class 150 cast steel gate valves.
    In accordance with the provisions of section 117 of the SAFETEA-LU 
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 Ohio waiver page noted above.

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

     Issued on: August 30, 2013.
 Victor M. Mendez,
 FHWA Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-21984 Filed 9-9-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P