80 FR 72480 - Notice of Buy America Waiver

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 223 (November 19, 2015)

This notice provides NHTSA's finding with respect to a request to waive the requirements of Buy America from the North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP). NHTSA finds that a non- availability waiver of the Buy America requirement is appropriate for the purchase of a Nikon prismless total station using Federal highway traffic safety grant funds because there are no suitable products produced in the United States.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 223 (Thursday, November 19, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72480-72482]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29528]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2015-0111]


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 North Carolina 
Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP). NHTSA finds that a non-
availability waiver of the Buy America requirement is appropriate for 
the purchase of a Nikon prismless 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 December 4, 2015. Written 
comments regarding this notice may be submitted to NHTSA and must be 
received on or before: December 4, 2015.

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 North Carolina's GHSP to purchase a Nikon Nivo 5M Plus and its 
accessories for $8,995 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

[[Page 72481]]

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).
    Recently, NHTSA published its finding that a public interest waiver 
of the Buy America requirements is appropriate for a manufactured 
product whose purchase price is $5,000 or less, excluding a motor 
vehicle, when such product is purchased using Federal grant funds 
administered under Chapter 4 of Title 23 of the United States Code. See 
80 FR 37359 (June 30, 2015). Under the public interest waiver, 
therefore, states are no longer required to submit a waiver of Buy 
America to NHTSA for items costing $5,000 or less, except for motor 
vehicles, when they purchase the item with Federal grant funds.
    In this instance, the North Carolina's GHSP seeks a waiver to 
purchase one (1) Nikon Nivo 5M Plus Reflectorless Total Station 
equipment \1\ for its subgrantee, the Raleigh Police Department, using 
Federal grant funds, at a cost of $8,995.\2\ 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 North 
Carolina's GHSP, 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. North Carolina's GHSP 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, the 
State notes that, with a total station, evidence can be plotted from 
the side of the road after a roadway has been opened to traffic.
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    \1\ The Nikon Nivo 5M Plus Reflectorless total station has 
integrated Bluetooth technology, and includes battery packs, a dual 
charger, lens cap, CD manual, hard carrying case, tripod, prism kit, 
prism pole, prism pole bag, strobe prism with tilting mount, 
carrying bag and data cable.
    \2\ As part of its waiver request, GHSP submitted a sales quote 
for the Nikon total station that included seven (7) additional items 
costing less than $5,000. Because these additional items are under 
the $5,000 threshold of NHTSA's public interest waiver, NHTSA did 
not conduct a market analysis for these items.
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    In support of its waiver request, North Carolina's GHSP states that 
there are no total station models that are manufactured or assembled in 
the United States. The state contacted total station equipment 
manufacturers to learn of the origin of their equipment. While several 
domestic corporations offer total station equipment for sale, North 
Carolina states its research revealed that all total stations are 
manufactured overseas. It discovered that CT Berger (China), Leica 
(Switzerland) Nikon (Japan), Spectra Precision (Japan), Northwest 
Instruments (China), Topcon (Japan), and Trimble (Sweden) total station 
equipment are all foreign made.
    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-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.
    NHTSA conducted similar assessments \3\ to those conducted by North 
Carolina's GHSP. NHTSA was unable to locate domestic manufacturers of 
total stations with the specifications that North Carolina's GHSP 
required. In addition to the manufacturers researched by North 
Carolina's GHSP, and confirmed by the agency's research, NHTSA 
identified the following total station manufacturers and their 
production locations: 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). Based upon NHTSA's market analysis, it is unaware of any 
total station equipment that is manufactured domestically. 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.
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    \3\ NHTSA conducted internet searches and reviewed several Web 
sites that catalog domestic made products (www.usaonly.us; 
www.americansworking.com; www.madeinamericaforever.com; and 
www.madeinusa.org) to locate domestically made Total Station 
equipment.
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    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 North Carolina's GHSP in order to 
purchase the Nikon Nivo 5M Plus Reflectorless Total Station equipment. 
This waiver applies to North Carolina and all other states seeking to 
use section 402 funds to purchase Nikon Nivo 5m Plus Reflectorless 
total stations for the purposes mentioned herein. This waiver is 
effective through fiscal year 2016 and expires at the conclusion of 
that 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 Nikon Nivo 5m Plus Reflectorless 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 the North Carolina's GHSP 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.


[[Page 72482]]


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

Paul A. Hemmersbaugh,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-29528 Filed 11-18-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P