[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 222 (Monday, November 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80717-80719]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25515]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0396; FRL 11285-01-OW]

Request for Information Regarding Products and Categories of
Products Used in Water Infrastructure Programs

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice; request for information (RFI).

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SUMMARY: To support further development of multiple funding programs
for water infrastructure subject to the requirements of the Build
America, Buy America Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
invites public comment to inform the domestic availability of multiple
products used in the construction, alteration, and/or maintenance of
water infrastructure. The EPA is inviting comments to enable the agency
to have the most comprehensive and current information available on the
domestic market for BABA-covered products for its programs and the
water infrastructure programs of other agencies. The EPA, along with
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the
U.S. Department of the Interior, are especially interested in comments
detailing domestic materials sourcing, market readiness, other product
supply considerations, and whether specific water infrastructure
products or their components are manufactured in the United States.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 20, 2023, to
allow for their consideration during development of these funding
programs. The EPA may consider comments received after the due date to
the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-
2023-0396, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
www.regulations.gov.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket
Center, Water Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
Monday-Friday (except Federal holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this notice. Comments received may be posted without change to
https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the
``Public Participation'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Timothy Connor, Chemical Engineer,
Office of Wastewater Management at<PHONE_NUMBER>, or via email at
[email protected]; or Leslie Corcelli, Physical Scientist, Office
of Ground Water and Drinking Water at<PHONE_NUMBER>, or
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Participation

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2023-
0396, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may
publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit to the
EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov any information you
consider to be Confidential Business Information, Proprietary Business
Information, or other information where disclosure is restricted by
statute. If you wish to submit information containing CBI, contact
Timothy Connor ([email protected]) with any questions on the EPA's
secure CBI protocol or to initiate Agency procedures for submitting
confidential information. After contacting the EPA regarding your
intent to submit CBI, a secure data exchange will be initiated and
detailed instructions will be provided. Multimedia submissions (audio,
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written
comment is considered the official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system).
Please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets for
additional submission methods; the full EPA public comment policy;
information about CBI, PBI, or multimedia submissions; and general
guidance on making effective comments.

II. General Information

    The Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, Nov.
15, 2021) provides $50 billion of new funding for water infrastructure,
funding that includes domestic content requirements (see details
below). These developments provide an opportunity for significant
expansion of domestic capacity. Additionally, the IIJA and the
Inflation Reduction Act (Pub. L. 117-69, Aug. 16, 2022) collectively
provide more than $10 billion of additional funding to the Department
of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation for aging infrastructure, water
delivery systems for rural communities, and to increase water supply.
The EPA wishes to work in coordination with other agencies and with
private industry to provide clear and consistent demand signals for
products used in water infrastructure projects.
    The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to improve
Federal agencies' understanding of the current state of the domestic
market for products required to service drinking, agricultural,
wastewater treatment and delivery systems.
    The Build America, Buy America Act requires iron, steel,
manufactured

products, and construction materials used in infrastructure projects
funded by Federal financial assistance to be produced in the United
States. While BABA provides the opportunity for the EPA and other
agencies to issue certain waivers to these requirements, approval
depends on many factors, including availability of domestically sourced
materials and products. Responses to this RFI will improve the
agencies' understanding of the current domestic market for these
products to effectively implement BABA for projects funded by its water
infrastructure programs and to evaluate the potential need for short-
term product waivers from BABA requirements if products are
unavailable.
    In this RFI, the agency provides a brief background of water
infrastructure programs in the EPA's Office of Water, includes
background information on BABA provisions, and requests comments and
responses regarding products or categories of products for specific
areas of interest. This RFI also includes guidance on submitting
comments, procedures for submitting CBI, and where to find additional
information.

Responding to This RFI

    Please indicate in your written comments the area of interest
(product or category of product) and the topic number(s) below you are
commenting on and provide specific examples or information to
illustrate your comments where possible. You do not need to address
every topic and should focus on those where you have relevant expertise
or experience. In all cases, to the extent possible, please cite any
public data related to or that support your responses. If data are
available, but non-public, describe such data to the extent
permissible. Responses with specific data are especially useful. As
discussed in Section I, CBI is protected from public disclosure when
properly submitted.

Background

    In this section, the agency provides background information on the
Office of Water infrastructure programs subject to the BABA
requirements. The IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law, appropriated $50 billion to the EPA to strengthen the nation's
drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The IIJA includes BABA,
establishing new and expanded domestic preference requirements for
infrastructure projects that receive Federal financial assistance.
(Pub. L. 117-58, Nov. 15, 2021, sec. 70901-52). Importantly, BABA
requirements apply to all Federal financial assistance programs that
include infrastructure projects. Currently, the EPA's Office of Water
administers at least seventeen programs that provide Federal financial
assistance for water infrastructure, including the Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
(CWSRF) program, and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation
Act (WIFIA) program. These programs address critical water
infrastructure needs through construction, alteration, or repair of
water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, including, but not
limited to, lead service line replacement, water quality improvements,
source water protection, treatment of emerging contaminants, and
climate resilience.
    Through this RFI, the EPA seeks information regarding the domestic
availability of specific water infrastructure products identified in
this notice. The agency is interested in promptly obtaining more
information on this and other issues discussed in this notice to assess
if enough products/systems are currently available to comply with BABA
requirements or whether sufficient products would be available in the
future, and if so, when. This information will also be supplied to
USDA, USACE, FEMA, HUD, DOT, and Interior which also manage water
infrastructure programs.

Build America, Buy America Act

    BABA requires each covered Federal agency to ensure that ``none of
the funds made available for a Federal financial assistance program for
infrastructure. . . [are] obligated for a project unless all of the
iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in
the project are produced in the United States'' except if a waiver is
granted. (Pub. L. 117-58, sec. 70914.) These requirements apply to an
entire infrastructure project funded by Federal financial assistance,
including those funded by the EPA water infrastructure programs, even
if it is also funded by non-Federal funds. The EPA is committed to
ensuring strong and effective BABA implementation and compliance.
    For all predominantly iron or steel products used in infrastructure
projects that involve the obligation of Federal financial assistance,
all manufacturing processes of the iron and/or steel components,
beginning with initial melting and including application of a coating,
must occur in the United States (matching the American Iron and Steel
statutory requirements). (Pub. L. 117-58, sec. 70912(6)(A).) Per the
``Build America, Buy America Act Implementation Procedures for EPA
Office of Water Federal Financial Assistance Programs'' dated November
3, 2022, the EPA interprets a predominantly iron and steel product as
``. . . made primarily (more than 50 percent) of iron and/or steel by
materials cost . . ..'' This is consistent with the American Iron and
Steel statutory requirements.
    Manufactured products must be produced in the United States,
meaning the final point of manufacturing must occur in the United
States and the cost of the components of the manufactured product that
are mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States is greater
than 55 percent of the total cost of all components of the manufactured
product. (Pub. L. 117-58, sec. 70912(6)(B).)
    For construction materials, all manufacturing processes must occur
in the United States. (Pub. L. 117-58, sec. 70912(6)(c).) Construction
materials include incorporated products primarily made of non-ferrous
metals, plastic and polymer-based products (including
polyvinylchloride), fiber optic cable (including drop cable), optical
fiber, glass, lumber, engineered wood, and drywall. (Pub. L. 117-58,
sec. 70911(5) and 2 CFR 184.6.)

Request for Comments and Information

    In this section, the agency describes four general topics that it
anticipates will be addressed for the products or categories of
products listed below. To inform BABA implementation for the EPA's
Office of Water and the additional Federal water infrastructure
programs, including those administered by USDA, USACE, FEMA, HUD, DOT,
and Interior, the EPA requests comments and information from the public
on the following products or categories of products:
     lead service line replacement components (including but
not limited to, service line, service saddle, corporation stop, curb
stops, curb stop boxes and lids, service line fittings, water meters,
meter setters, meter boxes, check valves and shut-off/isolation
valves);
     valve actuators (electric/pneumatic/manual);
     pumps and pump motors;
     stainless steel products and domestic mills, especially
small diameter pipe and fittings;
     PFAS treatment systems and media, especially granular
activated carbon (GAC);
     controls and switches;
     analytical instrumentation;

     supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems;
     backup power products and systems;
     blowers and aeration equipment;
     gear reducers;
     drives (including variable frequency drives (VFDs));
     ultraviolet (UV) water treatment systems;
     membrane and other filtration systems (e.g., ion exchange,
membrane, and reverse osmosis);
     clarifier mechanisms;
     disinfection systems;
     conveyors;
     dewatering equipment (such as compressors and presses,
including belt presses);
     floating surface aerators;
     ozone generators;
     measurement sensors;
     water meters and associated communications devices;
     automated level control gates; and
     other critical water infrastructure products, including
whether they comply with applicable BABA requirements.
    For each of these products or categories of products and based on
your current understanding of BABA requirements, the EPA is requesting
the following information about the following four general topics:
domestic materials sourcing and manufacturing, market readiness,
delivery lead times and other. At the beginning of your response,
please specify the products for which you are providing an answer:
    Products: Please clearly identify the products or categories of
products for which you are providing a response. If you are referring
to ``other critical water infrastructure products and systems,'' please
provide a detailed description of the product or system.
    1. Domestic Materials Sourcing and Manufacturing:
    a. For each of the products or categories of products you
identified, please specify whether the product meets BABA requirements
(described above) or is currently manufactured in the United States to
meet a domestic final assembly condition. (Yes or no).
    b. Please identify whether the products in your response fall
within the iron and steel, manufactured products, or construction
materials categories of BABA.
    c. If you answered ``Yes'' to Topic 1(a), to the best of your
knowledge.
    i. Please identify all manufacturers that can either meet BABA
requirements or can currently manufacture products or categories of
products you specified in the United States. For products that meet the
condition of manufactured in the United States, please identify the
manufacturing location and percentage of components manufactured in the
United States as calculated by cost of components (if known).
    ii. What is the current production capacity of the products that
can meet BABA requirements?
    iii. What is the anticipated growth in BABA-compliant capacity over
the next five years? Does this anticipated growth consider the more
than $50 billion in increased funding described above? Please explain.
    iv. For products able to meet BABA requirements, what is the
estimated lead time from purchase order to delivery to the project
site? Has this lead time increased or decreased in recent years?
    d. If you answered ``No'' to Topic 1a:
    i. What actions are manufacturers taking/could take to increase the
manufacturing of products that will meet BABA requirements?
    ii. What additional support or incentives (e.g., financial,
rulemaking certainty, etc.) are needed to ensure a sufficient supply of
products that meet BABA requirements?
    iii. How long might it take to implement the steps needed to
increase or begin production of BABA compliant products?
    iv. If a plan is in place to manufacture BABA compliant products,
what is the volume of specific products that will follow BABA
requirements and in what time frame?
    v. Will the volume of BABA compliant products be ramped up over
time, and, if so, at what annual growth rate?
    vi. What are the limiting factors for the product's ability to meet
criteria for BABA compliance? For example, are there components of
these products for which it is hard to meet BABA requirements? Please
describe each component separately and indicate approximately what
percent of component value it represents.
    2. Market Readiness:
    a. For all products specified in Topic 1(a), provide your
observations on the current and near-term demand expected for these
products or categories of products. Does this estimate of future demand
consider the more than $50 billion in increased funding described
above? Please explain.
    b. Provide information regarding whether the current and/or near-
term manufacturing capacity would be adequate to meet the expected
market demand.
    Please specify any factors helping or preventing the industry from
meeting the expected demand today and in the near-term and provide
information on the current and expected availability or unavailability
of key components or sub-components of the product or category of
products you specified.
    c. Are there supply chain issues that make it difficult to credibly
communicate the existence of increased demand, or to credibly commit
that such demand will be forthcoming? If so, please describe as
specifically as possible.
    3. Timing:
    a. Where known, for each product/category of products specified in
Topic 1, specify the current range of expected product delivery
timeframes. Are any existing supply chain delays applicable or
anticipated for the product(s) or critical components of the
product(s)?
    b. Provide information, if available, on expected delivery
timeframe outlooks through the near-term future. Provide information,
if known, on whether current timing delivery concerns are related to a
temporary disruption.
    c. Provide information on the current and expected near-term
average customer delivery time.
    d. Provide information regarding global supply chain constraints,
local permitting, safety requirements and needs that may affect
delivery timeframes or extend installation time.
    4. Other Practical Considerations: Please specify any other
considerations for the EPA regarding production, products, systems,
equipment, or components of products used in water infrastructure.

Radhika Fox,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2023-25515 Filed 11-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 66 (Thursday, April 6, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 20505]
[FR Doc No: 2023-07198]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 3133-033]

Brookfield White Pine Hydro, LLC, Errol Hydro Co., LLC; Notice of
Availability of Environmental Assessment

    In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (Commission)
regulations, 18 CFR part 380, the Office of Energy Projects has
reviewed the application for a new license to continue to operate and
maintain the Errol Hydroelectric Project. The project is located on the
Androscoggin River and Umbagog Lake, near the Town of Errol, and
Township of Cambridge, in Coos County, New Hampshire, and the Towns of
Magalloway Plantation and Upton in Oxford County, Maine. Commission
staff has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the project.
The project would occupy 3,285 acres of federal land in the Umbagog
National Wildlife Refuge administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
    The EA contains the staff's analysis of the potential environmental
impacts of the project and concludes that licensing the project, with
appropriate environmental protective measures, would not constitute a
major federal action that would significantly affect the quality of the
human environment.
    The Commission provides all interested persons with an opportunity
to view and/or print the EA via the internet through the Commission's
Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov/), using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter
the docket number, excluding the last three digits in the docket number
field, to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online
Support at [email protected], or toll-free at<PHONE_NUMBER>,
or for TTY,<PHONE_NUMBER>.
    You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
    Any comments should be filed within 30 days from the date of this
notice.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
comments using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. Commenters can submit brief comments up to
6,000 characters, without prior registration, using the eComment system
at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ecomment.asp. You must include your
name and contact information at the end of your comments. For
assistance, please contact FERC Online Support. In lieu of electronic
filing, you may submit a paper copy. Submissions sent via the U.S.
Postal Service must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A,
Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via any other carrier must be
addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The first
page of any filing should include docket number P-3133-033.
    For further information, contact Kelly Wolcott at<PHONE_NUMBER> or
by email at [email protected].

    Dated: March 31, 2023.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-07198 Filed 4-5-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P