81 FR 40755 - Notice of Intent To Grant a Buy America Waiver to Palmetto Railways, a Division of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, To Use Wide-Span, Electric, Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 120 (June 22, 2016)

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public it intends to grant Palmetto Railways a waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement to use four (4) wide-span, electric, rail-mounted gantry cranes (WSCs).

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 120 (Wednesday, June 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40755-40756]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14708]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2012-0033]


Notice of Intent To Grant a Buy America Waiver to Palmetto 
Railways, a Division of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, To 
Use Wide-Span, Electric, Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), United States Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of intent to grant Buy America waiver.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public it intends to 
grant Palmetto Railways a waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement to 
use four (4) wide-span, electric, rail-mounted gantry cranes (WSCs).

DATES: Written comments on FRA's determination to grant Palmetto's Buy 
America waiver request should be provided to the FRA on or before June 
29, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means, 
identifying your submissions by docket number FRA-2012-0033. All 
electronic submissions must be made to the U.S. Government electronic 
site at http://www.regulations.gov. Commenters should follow the 
instructions below for mailed and hand-delivered comments:
    (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, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001; 
or
    (4) Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the first floor of the West 
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must reference the ``Federal Railroad 
Administration'' and include docket number FRA-2012-0033. Due to 
security procedures in effect since October 2001, mail received through 
the U.S. Postal Service may be subject to delays. Parties submitting 
responses 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 on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or visit http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mr. John Johnson, Attorney-Advisor, 
FRA Office of Chief Counsel, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Mail Stop 10, 
Washington, DC 20590, (202) 493-0078, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  FRA provides information on its reasons for 
granting this waiver in a letter to Palmetto Railways, quoted below:

Jeffrey M. McWhorter
President & CEO
Palmetto Railways
540 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC 29403
Re: Request for Waiver of Buy America Requirement for Wide-Span, 
Electric, Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes

    Dear Mr. McWhorter:

    This letter is in response to your request that the Federal 
Railroad Administration (FRA) grant Palmetto Railways (Palmetto), a 
division of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, a waiver from 
FRA's Buy America policy applicable to FRA's Railroad Rehabilitation 
& Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan program. Palmetto requests a 
waiver to purchase four (4) wide-span, electric, rail-mounted gantry 
cranes (WSCs) because no company manufactures WSCs in the United 
States. Palmetto plans to use the WSCs at a brand new Intermodal 
Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) on the site of the former 
Charleston Navy Base, located in the City of North Charleston, South 
Carolina. The total estimated cost of the WSCs is $[ ] or 8.2 
percent of the total investment of approximately $[ ] to construct 
the ICTF.
    For the reasons set forth below, FRA is granting Palmetto's 
waiver request.
    FRA applies 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(1) to RRIF loans. Section 
24405(a)(1) requires that the steel, iron, and manufactured goods 
used in a project be produced in the United States. FRA may waive 
the Buy America requirements if FRA finds that: (A) applying the 
requirements would be inconsistent with the public interest; (B) the 
steel, iron, and goods manufactured in the United States are not 
produced in sufficient and reasonably available amounts or are not 
of a satisfactory quality; (C) rolling stock or power train 
equipment cannot be bought or delivered to

[[Page 40756]]

the United States within a reasonable time; or (D) including 
domestic material will increase the cost of the overall project by 
more than 25 percent.
    FRA concludes a waiver is appropriate because domestically-
produced WSCs meeting Palmetto's specification for the ICTF project 
are not currently produced in the United States.
    FRA bases this determination on the following:
     While there are domestic manufacturers for smaller, 
intermodal cranes, there are no U.S. manufacturers of large and 
wide-span intermodal cranes for ports;
     In 2011, U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime 
Administration (MARAD) determined it had been fifteen years since 
mobile harbor cranes were manufactured in the United States and 
issued a waiver for foreign mobile harbor cranes. See 76 FR 14457 
(March 16, 2011). This finding comports with previous waivers for 
cranes granted by MARAD in 2010 and the Federal Highway 
Administration (FHWA) in 2009. See 75 FR 68661 (November 8, 2010) 
and 74 FR 51363 (October 6, 2009), respectively;
     In 2013, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST-MEP) 
scouted for domestic rail-mounted and rubber tire mobile harbor 
cranes for intermodal containers and did not locate any U.S. 
manufacturers;
     In 2015, NIST-MEP scouted for domestic large, container 
vessel ship-to-shore gantry cranes and did not locate any U.S. 
manufacturers currently manufacturing these cranes;
     In 2015, Palmetto conducted extensive market research 
about active WSC manufacturers and found that they do not 
manufacture WSCs in the United States;
     In January 2015, FHWA granted a Buy America waiver for 
non-domestic harbor cranes after concluding that there are no 
domestic manufacturers. See 80 FR 3005 (January 21, 2015);
     On February 9, 2015, FRA provided public notice of this 
waiver request and a 15-day opportunity for comment on its Web site. 
FRA also emailed notice to over 6,000 persons who have signed up for 
Buy America notices through ``GovDelivery.'' See https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0783. FRA received no comments;
     In May 2015, FHWA granted another Buy America waiver 
for cargo cranes after concluding that there are no domestic 
manufacturers. See 80 FR 29790 (May 22, 2015); and
     In January 2016, FRA independently confirmed there are 
no domestic WSC manufacturers. FRA discussed the U.S. market with 
crane/intermodal experts from several port terminals and railroad 
intermodal operations with experience purchasing a variety of crane 
equipment, including WSC cranes.
    FRA encourages Palmetto to follow through with the bidding 
process described in its waiver request, including Palmetto's 
expectation to weight ``the ability of a supplier to offer a 
technically compliant, cost-effective solution that maximizes U.S.-
origin content over the lifecycle of the WSCs.'' FRA is publishing 
notice of its decision to grant Palmetto's waiver request in the 
Federal Register to provide notice of such finding and an 
opportunity for public comment after which this waiver will become 
effective. This waiver applies only to the WSCs for Palmetto's 
procurement as identified in its waiver request.
    Questions about this letter can be directed to, John Johnson, 
Attorney-Advisor, at [email protected] or (202) 493-0078.

Sincerely,

Sarah E. Feinberg,
Administrator.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 16, 2016.
Amitabha Bose,
Chief Counsel.

[FR Doc. 2016-14708 Filed 6-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P