Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the City of Lowell, MA

Resumo

The EPA is hereby granting a waiver of the Buy American requirements of ARRA Section 1605 under the authority of Section 1605(b)(1) [inconsistent with the public interest] to the City of Lowell, Massachusetts (City) for the purchase of a foreign manufactured 30-inch diameter pipe tee fitting for a finished water pipe at the Lowell Water Treatment Facility. This is a project-specific waiver and only applies to the use of the specified product for the ARRA project being proposed. Any other ARRA recipient that wishes to use the same product must apply for a separate waiver based on project-specific circumstances. The proposed work involved repairing an existing 30-inch cement lined ductile iron fitting on a finished water line in the Lowell Water Treatment Facility. Based upon information submitted by the City's consulting engineer, EPA has concluded that, under the given circumstances (i.e. emergency standby situation, the need to minimize disruption in water transmission service), requiring the installation of an alternative domestic manufactured pipe fitting would be inconsistent with the public interest, and that a waiver of the Buy American provisions is justified. The Regional A