Notice2022-16012
Buy America Waiver Notification
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 26, 2022
Effective
July 27, 2022
Issuing agencies
Transportation DepartmentMaritime Administration
Abstract
This notice provides information regarding the finding of the Maritime Administration (MARAD), in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), that it is appropriate to grant a Buy America waiver based on nonavailability to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PhilaPort) for procurement of foreign iron and steel components for the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal (PAMT) Capacity and Warehouse Relocation FY2017-2018 Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) project. The foreign iron and steel components are part of a Medium Voltage (MV) Cable Reel System, which is necessary for the conversion of two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes' drive power supply from diesel to electric. The non-domestic parts include: (i) Drive Gearbox and Motors; (ii) Electrical and Communications Collector System; (iii) MV cable drum; (iv) MV cable guides and diverter mounted to STS structure/legs; and (v) Gantry level bi-directional multi-roller, curved cable guide.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 142 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44487-44489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16012]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
Buy America Waiver Notification
AGENCY: Maritime Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation
(DOT).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice provides information regarding the finding of the
Maritime Administration (MARAD), in coordination with the Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA), that it is appropriate to grant a Buy
America waiver based on nonavailability to the Philadelphia Regional
Port Authority (PhilaPort) for procurement of foreign iron and steel
components for the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal (PAMT) Capacity and
Warehouse Relocation FY2017-2018 Infrastructure for Rebuilding America
(INFRA) project. The foreign iron and steel components are part of a
Medium Voltage (MV) Cable Reel System, which is necessary for the
conversion of two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes' drive power supply from
diesel to electric. The non-domestic parts include: (i) Drive Gearbox
and Motors; (ii) Electrical and Communications Collector System; (iii)
MV cable drum; (iv) MV cable guides and diverter mounted to STS
structure/legs; and (v) Gantry level bi-directional multi-roller,
curved cable guide.
DATES: The effective date of the waiver is July 27, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this notice,
please contact Robert Bouchard, Director, Office of Port Infrastructure
Development, 202-366-5076 or via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ad8e5e8eff8fea4c8e5ffe9e2ebf8eecaeee5fea4ede5fc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b1924292e393f6509243e28232a392f0b2f243f652c243d">[email protected]</span></a>. For
legal questions, please contact Lauren Gill, MARAD Office of Chief
Counsel, 202-366-2150, or via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5915382c2b3c37771e303535193d362d773e362f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="521e332720373c7c153b3e3e12363d267c353d24">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Electronic Access
An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded from the
Federal Register's home page at: <a href="http://www.FederalRegister.gov">www.FederalRegister.gov</a> and the
Government Publishing Office's database at: <a href="http://www.GovInfo.gov">www.GovInfo.gov</a>.
Background
PhilaPort's FY2017-2018 INFRA Project is required to follow the
FHWA's Buy America requirements at 23 U.S.C. 313 and implementing
regulations at 23 CFR 635.410. FHWA's Buy America regulation 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 produced
in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities.
This notice provides information regarding MARAD's finding that it is
appropriate to grant the PhilaPort a Buy America waiver based on
nonavailability for procurement of foreign iron and steel components
for the MV Cable Reel System, which is necessary for the conversion of
two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes' drive power supply from diesel to
electric. The non-domestic parts include: (i) Drive Gearbox and Motors;
(ii) Electrical and Communications Collector System; (iii) MV cable
drum; (iv) MV cable guides and diverter mounted to STS structure/
[[Page 44488]]
legs; and (v) Gantry level bi-directional multi-roller, curved cable
guide.
Background on the Project: The DOT awarded PhilaPort \1\ a $25.5M
FY2017-2018 INFRA grant \2\ for its PAMT Capacity and Warehouse
Relocation Project, which has a total project cost of roughly $122M.\3\
MARAD is designated as the DOT operating agency responsible for
administering the Project. The Project includes the electrification of
two existing Hyundai STS diesel cranes (referred to as H-6 and H-7) to
eliminate air emissions and improve operational reliability. The cranes
were installed at PAMT in 2004 and are the most utilized cranes on the
terminal for unloading cargo from container vessels. According to
PhilaPort, depending on the workload, the cranes can consume between 20
to 100 gallons of diesel fuel per hour.
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\1\ PhilaPort's Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is J4QYLRK4VSR5.
\2\ The INFRA program is described under the assistance listing
program title ``Nationally Significant Freight and Highway
Projects'' (assistance listing number 20.934).
\3\ The Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN) for the INFRA
project is 693JF71910026.
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PhilaPort determined that delivering utility-supplied electric
power to the STS cranes required a trailing MV Cable Reel System. The
MV Cable Reel System allows the STS cranes to be mobile along the dock
by reeling cable in and out from a motorized and synchronized cable
drum as the crane moves along the berth. The cable also delivers fiber
communications to and from the cranes and the terminal. PhilaPort
currently has five other STS cranes that operate alongside the H-6 and
H-7 cranes that use a similar MV Cable Reel system. Additionally, the
dock where H-6 and H-7 operate has been retrofitted to allow for the
electrification of the two cranes via this system.
The crane electrification project will have substantial
environmental benefits due to the elimination of harmful air emissions
after the transition to electric drives. PhilaPort's PAMT has a planned
annual container throughput that is forecasted to require 4,103 hours
of operation for both H-6 and H-7. At this level of operation,
PhilaPort estimates that converting the cranes to utility-supplied
electricity would eliminate 109,896 of diesel crane hours and over
100,000 tons of harmful air emissions over their lifetime.
Additionally, the conversion of the cranes from diesel to electric will
result in significant cost savings to PhilaPort due to the reduction in
fuel usage, energy costs, and improvements in efficiency and
reliability of the cranes.
Background on the Waiver Request: PhilaPort began designing the
crane electrification project in April 2020, at which point it became
apparent that a Buy America-compliant MV Cable Reel System could not be
sourced domestically. After further discussions with MARAD, PhilaPort
requested that the design engineer perform a market study among
potential suppliers. The design engineer contacted three known
suppliers in the industry and one potential supplier in a related
industry. All four respondents confirmed that they could not supply a
fully Buy America-compliant MV Cable Reel System.
After receiving the results of the market study and discussing with
MARAD, PhilaPort proceeded to bid the crane electrification project in
the hope that bidding contractors could engage resources to identify a
fully Buy America-compliant MV Cable Reel System. On June 28, 2021,
PhilaPort received bids on the Project from only two contractors, both
of whom proposed the same non-compliant supplier for the MV Cable Reel
System.
After unsuccessfully identifying domestic manufacturers of the MV
Cable Reel System, on September 8, 2021, PhilaPort submitted a Buy
America waiver request to MARAD for the procurement of an MV Cable Reel
System containing foreign iron and steel components needed to complete
the PAMT INFRA Project. The foreign components \4\ include: (i) Drive
Gearbox and Motors; (ii) Electrical and Communications Collector
System; (iii) MV cable drum; (iv) MV cable guides and diverter mounted
to STS structure/legs; and (v) Gantry level bi-directional multi-
roller, curved cable guide.
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\4\ Depending on which vendor is selected by PhilaPort, the
country of origin for these components will most likely be either
Germany or Italy.
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The MV Cable Reel System is included under an approximately $5.5
million contract to complete the crane electrification project.
PhilaPort estimates that the MV Cable Reel System itself will cost
$410,000 out of that total project cost. Of the $410,000, approximately
$110,000, or 2% of the total contract cost, is the cost of the foreign
steel and iron components contained in the MV Cable Reel System. The
remaining $300,000 is non-steel/iron electrical trailing cable. All
other costs associated with this contract are expected to comply with
Buy America requirements.
In accordance with the statutory requirement at 23 U.S.C. 313(g),
MARAD published a notice of intent to issue a waiver on the FHWA
website on April 27, 2022, at <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/contracts/waivers.cfm?id=165">https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/contracts/waivers.cfm?id=165</a>. MARAD received no comments in response to
the publication. Additionally, the PhilaPort point of contact similarly
did not receive any comments or inquiries. Thus, PhilaPort did not
receive any new information indicating that the subject components
could be produced by domestic manufacturers.
Although PhilaPort did not identify a Buy America-compliant MV
Cable Reel System, it provided information to MARAD supporting its
waiver request, including information:
<bullet> Supporting the necessity of the MV Cable Reel System for
converting the STS cranes from diesel to electric;
<bullet> Documenting efforts to locate compliant manufactured
products;
<bullet> Demonstrating that alternative designs were infeasible;
and
<bullet> Describing the effects of denying the request.
Although ultimately unsuccessful, PhilaPort made substantial
efforts to find a Buy America-compliant MV Cable Reel System.
Timing and Need for a Waiver. According to PhilaPort, the approval
of a Buy America waiver for the MV Cable Reel System is critical to
maintain the schedule of ongoing construction on the INFRA Project.
Currently, the lead time for this major component is between 20 to 30
weeks, so any delay in approving the waiver will result in project
delays and additional time the STS cranes will operate under diesel
power. Without the waiver for the relevant system, the crane
electrification project cannot move forward, and the environmental and
operational benefits of the project would be lost.
Executive Order 14005. Executive Order 14005, ``Ensuring the Future
is Made in All of America by All of America's Workers,'' provides that
agencies should, consistent with applicable law, maximize the use of
goods, products, and materials produced in, and services offered in,
the U.S. 86 FR 7475 (Jan. 28, 2021). Based on the information contained
in the waiver request from PhilaPort and the lack of comments following
publication of a notice seeking comment on April 27, 2022, regarding
available domestic manufacturers for the subject parts, MARAD concludes
that issuing a waiver is consistent with Executive Order 14005.
Finding and Request for Comments
Based on all the information available to the Agency, MARAD
concludes that there are no Buy America-compliant
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relevant components for the MV Cable Reel System needed for the
Project, including: (i) Drive Gearbox and Motors; (ii) Electrical and
Communications Collector System; (iii) MV cable drum; (iv) MV cable
guides and diverter mounted to STS structure/legs; and (v) Gantry level
bi-directional multi-roller, curved cable guide. This finding only
includes components identified in the waiver request and supporting
documents included on FHWA's website.
The PhilaPort and its contractors and subcontractors involved in
the procurement of the relevant components are reminded of the need to
comply with the Cargo Preference Act in 46 CFR part 381, if applicable.
To avoid the possibility of requiring waivers for these items in
the future, MARAD will work with industry to better understand the
demand for these components and the potential for domestic production
of these items in the future. We will then follow-up with the Office of
Management and Budget's Made in America Office and the U.S. Department
of Commerce, as appropriate, to assess the potential for domestic
production to meet the forecasted demand for these items.
In accordance with the provisions of Section 117 of the SAFETEA-LU
Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-244, 122 Stat. 1572),
MARAD is providing this notice as its finding that a waiver of Buy
America requirements is appropriate. MARAD invites public comment on
this finding for an additional 5 days following the effective date of
the finding. Comments may be submitted to FHWA's website via the link
provided to the waiver page noted above.
(Authority: 23 U.S.C. 117; 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 110-244; 23 CFR
635.410)
By order of the Maritime Administrator.
T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2022-16012 Filed 7-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P
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