Announcements

Buy America Updates and Webinar: Waiver of Buy America Requirement for Construction Materials for Certain Contracts and Solicitations (Feb. 7 webinar)

Published on: February 4, 2023

Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a limited Waiver of Buy America Requirement for Construction Materials for Certain Contracts and Solicitations. FTA invites you to attend a webinar on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, at 1:00 CT to learn about the new waiver and its impact on FTA-funded projects.

The Build America, Buy America Act (BABA), which is part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, expands the application of Buy America preferences in federal financial assistance programs for infrastructure to include construction materials. To assist project sponsors transitioning to using U.S. manufactured construction materials, DOT previously issued a Temporary Waiver of the Buy America Requirements for Construction Materials. This temporary waiver delayed the date BABA would take effect for U.S. DOT financial assistance awards until November 10, 2022, and since has expired.

To further assist this transition, U.S. DOT’s new waiver exempts certain construction materials used in federally funded infrastructure projects based on the date of grant obligation, the date of contract execution for the materials, and other factors. The limited waiver is intended to implement the new construction materials requirement in a way that does not delay delivery of projects in sufficiently advanced stages.

This webinar will discuss the effect of both waivers on construction materials purchases. Unless subject to this new waiver, BABA requires all contracts for infrastructure projects funded by awards obligated after November 10, 2022, to apply Buy America to construction materials.

Links:
Register for the webinar
Waiver of Buy America Requirement for Construction Materials for Certain Contracts and Solicitations
DOT Temporary Waiver of Buy America Requirements for Construction Materials