Notice of Buy America Waiver

Paul A. Hemmersbaugh
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
10 March 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12780-12781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05371]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0026]


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 Maine Bureau of 
Highway Safety (MBHS). NHTSA finds that a non-availability waiver of 
the Buy America requirement is appropriate for the purchase of a Leica 
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 March 25, 2016. Written 
comments regarding this notice may be submitted to NHTSA and must be 
received on or before: March 25, 2016.

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 MBHS to purchase a Leica Flexline TS02 Plus R500 Reflectorless 
Total Station for $12,925 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 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); 49 CFR 1.95(f).
    MBHS seeks a waiver to purchase one (1) Leica Flexline TS02 Plus 
R500 Reflectorless total station for its subgrantee, the Maine State 
Police, using Federal grant funds, at a cost of $12,925. 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 MBHS, 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. MBHS 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, with a total station, 
evidence can be plotted from the side of the road after a roadway has 
been opened to traffic.
    MBHS states that there are no total station models that are 
manufactured or assembled in the United States. In support of its 
waiver, MBHS cites to NHTSA's determination that a Buy America waiver 
was appropriate for the North Carolina Highway Safety Office to 
purchase a Nikon Nivo 5M plus Reflectorless total station. See 80 FR 
72480 (November 19, 2015). In that notice, the agency noted that both 
North Carolina and NHTSA performed market analyses which revealed that 
all total station equipment are foreign made.\1\ Id. at 72481. At this 
time, the agency is unaware of any total stations produced 
domestically.
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    \1\ In our November 19, 2015 notice, we noted that the combined 
market research of North Carolina and NHTSA found that the following 
manufacturers produced foreign made total stations: CT Berger 
(China); Leica (Switzerland); Leica Flexline TS02 Plus R500 
Reflectorless Total Station (Japan); Spectra Precision (Japan); 
Northwest Instruments (China); Topcon (Japan); Trimble (Sweden); 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).
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    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-

[[Page 12781]]

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.
    Based upon our recent market analysis, we are unaware of any total 
station equipment that is manufactured domestically. Ibid. 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.
    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 MBHS in order to purchase the Leica 
total station equipment. This waiver applies to Maine and all other 
states seeking to use section 402 funds to purchase Leica total 
stations for the purposes mentioned herein. This waiver is effective 
through fiscal year 2016 and expires at the conclusion of the 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 
Leica 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 MBHS's 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.

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

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2016 under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR part 1.95.
Paul A. Hemmersbaugh,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2016-05371 Filed 3-9-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P