80 FR 43553 - Notice of Proposed Buy America Waiver for a Variable Refrigerant Flow HVAC System

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Transit Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 140 (July 22, 2015)

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received a request for a waiver to permit the purchase of a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) HVAC system that is non-compliant with Buy America requirements using FTA funding. The request is from the City of Kansas City, Missouri (Kansas City) for its Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF) associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Project. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A), FTA is providing notice of the waiver request and seeks public comment before deciding whether to grant the request. If granted, the waiver would apply only to the FTA- funded procurement of a VRF HVAC system by Kansas City.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 140 (Wednesday, July 22, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43553-43554]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17910]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

[Docket No. FTA-2015-0010]


Notice of Proposed Buy America Waiver for a Variable Refrigerant 
Flow HVAC System

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, DOT.

ACTION: Notice of proposed Buy America waiver and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received a request 
for a waiver to permit the purchase of a Variable Refrigerant Flow 
(VRF) HVAC system that is non-compliant with Buy America requirements 
using FTA funding. The request is from the City of Kansas City, 
Missouri (Kansas City) for its Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF) 
associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Project. In 
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A), FTA is providing notice of the 
waiver request and seeks public comment before deciding whether to 
grant the request. If granted, the waiver would apply only to the FTA-
funded procurement of a VRF HVAC system by Kansas City.

DATES: Comments must be received by August 5, 2015. Late-filed comments 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

[[Page 43554]]


ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means, 
identifying your submissions by docket number FTA-2014-0021:
    1. Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments on the U.S. Government electronic docket site.
    2. Fax: (202) 493-2251.
    3. Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue 
SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-
140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    4. Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Docket Operations, M-30, West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001 between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must make reference to the ``Federal 
Transit Administration'' and include docket number FTA-2014-0021. Due 
to the security procedures in effect since October 2011, mail received 
through the U.S. Postal Service may be subject to delays. Parties 
making submissions responsive to this notice should consider using an 
express mail firm to ensure the prompt filing of any submissions not 
filed electronically or by hand. Note that all submissions received, 
including any personal information therein, will be posted without 
change or alteration to http://www.regulations.gov. For more 
information, you may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register published April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may 
visit http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard L. Wong, FTA Attorney-Advisor, 
at (202) 366-4011 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FTA seeks comment on whether it should grant 
a non-availability waiver for the Kansas City procurement of a VRF HVAC 
system for its VMF associated with the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar 
Project, using FTA grant funding.
    With certain exceptions, FTA's Buy America requirements prevent FTA 
from obligating an amount that may be appropriated to carry out its 
program for a project unless ``the steel, iron, and manufactured goods 
used in the project are produced in the United States.'' 49 U.S.C. 
5323(j)(1). A manufactured product is considered produced in the United 
States if: (1) All of the manufacturing processes for the product must 
take place in the United States; and (2) all of the components of the 
product must be of U.S. origin. A component is considered of U.S. 
origin if it is manufactured in the United States, regardless of the 
origin of its subcomponents. 49 CFR 661.5(d). If, however, FTA 
determines that ``the steel, iron, and goods produced in the United 
States are not produced in a sufficient and reasonably available amount 
or are not of a satisfactory quality,'' then FTA may issue a waiver 
(non-availability waiver). 49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(2)(B); 49 CFR 661.7(c).
    Kansas City is requesting a non-availability waiver for its 
procurement of a VRF HVAC system that will be installed in a VMF in 
Kansas City, Missouri, that will service its street cars. This facility 
is being built to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in 
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards and will incorporate a 
number of sustainable and energy efficient elements. One of those 
elements is a VRF HVAC system that, among other things, is space 
saving, has invertor technology, efficiency, and a non-ozone depleting 
refrigerant that domestic manufacturers of HVAC systems do not provide. 
According to Kansas City, its contractor was directed to evaluate the 
substitution of a Buy America-compliant Variable Air Volume (VAV) 
system, but the contractor advised Kansas City that the VAV system 
would endanger the project's LEED Gold certification because of the 
difference in efficiency between the VAV and VRF HVAC systems. In 
addition, the substitution of a VAV system would require significant 
changes to the project, such as the alteration of already-erected 
structural elements that were designed to accommodate a VRF system and 
additional design changes and plan reviews by Kansas City.
    Kansas City points to two recent non-availability waivers FTA 
issued to the San Bernardino Associated Governments (79 FR 61129, 
October 9, 2014) and Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit 
District for a similar VRF system (79 FR 34653, June 17, 2014), as well 
as to a blanket non-availability waiver issued by the U.S. Department 
of Energy (DOE) in 2010 for VRF HVAC systems procured with American 
Reinvestment and Recovery Act funding (75 FR 35447, June 22, 2010). 
According to Kansas City, the U.S. DOE's determination of non-
availability and FTA's recent waivers, as well as their own 
contractor's research, indicate that this product is not manufactured 
domestically. Finally, FTA, in collaboration with the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology's Hollings Manufacturing 
Extension Partnership, conducted a nationwide search to determine if 
any company currently manufactures a compatible VRF system that 
complies with Buy-America. The search revealed that no company 
currently can provide a Buy-America compliant VRF system that meets 
Kansas City's specifications.
    The purpose of this notice is to publish Kansas City's request and 
to seek public comment from all interested parties in accordance with 
49 U.S.C. 5323(j)(3)(A). Comments will help FTA understand completely 
the facts surrounding the request, including the effects of a potential 
waiver and the merits of the request. A full copy of the request has 
been placed in docket number FTA-2015-0010.

Dana Nifosi,
Acting Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-17910 Filed 7-21-15; 8:45 am]
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