II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1210 

To improve domestic procurement policies by providing rules and guidance, 

waiver notices, and departmental and agency actions applicable to the 

domestic content standards of Federal grants administered by the Department of Transportation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2011 

Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 

Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve domestic procurement policies by providing rules 

and guidance, waiver notices, and departmental and 

agency actions applicable to the domestic content standards of Federal grants administered by the Department 

of Transportation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Manu5 facturing and Rebuilding Transit Act of 2011’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SMART Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PREFERENCE IN AWARDING COMPETITIVE TRANS2 PORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS. 

3 (a) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants for projects 

4 that include the purchase of transit vehicle rolling stock, 

5 rail, and supporting equipment, the Secretary of Trans6 portation shall give preference to a project if the manufac7 tured goods to be purchased have a domestic content per8 centage that— 

9 (1) exceeds otherwise applicable Federal re10 quirements; and 

11 (2) in the case of rolling stock, is consistent 

12 with industry-recognized standards, if available. 

13 (b) COVERED GRANTS.—The grants referred to in 

14 subsection (a) are discretionary or competitive grants, 

15 loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit— 

16 (1) authorized under chapter 53 of title 49, 

17 United States Code; 

18 (2) used to fund in full or in part projects eligi19 ble for Federal assistance under such chapter; or 

20 (3) provided by the Department of Transpor21 tation for entities eligible for financial assistance 

22 under chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code. 

23 SEC. 3. INCREASING THE TRANSPARENCY OF DOMESTIC 

24 CONTENT WAIVERS. 

25 (a) CLARITY IN DOMESTIC CONTENT REGULA26 TIONS.—The Secretary of Transportation shall establish 


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1 a centralized Web site that provides rules and guidance, 

2 waiver notices, and departmental and agency actions ap3 plicable to the domestic content standards of the Federal4 aid programs within the jurisdiction of the Department 

5 of Transportation. 

6 (b) TRANSPARENCY IN WAIVERS.— 

7 (1) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE.— 

8 Section 5323(j) of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) in paragraph (2)(C)(i), by inserting 

11 ‘‘(excluding labor costs involved in final assem12 bly)’’ after ‘‘United States’’; 

13 (B) by striking paragraph (4); 

14 (C) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

15 paragraph (4); and 

16 (D) by inserting after paragraph (4), as 

17 redesignated, the following: 

18 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON WAIVERS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS.—Not later than 

20 7 days after the Secretary receives a written request 

21 for a waiver of any requirement under this sub22 section or section 5307(d)(1)(E)(iii), the Secretary 

23 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) publish the request on a publicly avail2 able agency Web site in an easily identifiable lo3 cation; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) provide the public with at least 30 

5 days for notice and comment before issuing the 

6 requested waiver. 

7 ‘‘(B) WAIVERS GRANTED.—Not later than 30 

8 days after the Secretary decides to waive any re9 quirement under this subsection or section 

10 5307(d)(1)(E)(iii), the Secretary shall publish the 

11 decision and the justification for such decision in the 

12 Federal Register and on the publicly available Web 

13 site described in subparagraph (A). 

14 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION OF THE OFFICE OF MAN15 AGEMENT AND BUDGET.—If the Secretary grants a 

16 waiver of any requirement under this subsection or 

17 section 5307(d)(1)(E)(iii), the Secretary shall sub18 mit to the Director of the Office of Management and 

19 Budget— 

20 ‘‘(i) a notification of the application of the 

21 exception; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) a statement describing the procure23 ment and the exception being applied.’’. 

24 (2) AMTRAK.—Section 24305(f) of title 49, 

25 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘exempt 

2 Amtrak from this subsection’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘waive paragraph (2)’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON WAIVERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS.—Not later than 

7 7 days after the Secretary of Transportation receives 

8 a written request for a waiver of paragraph (2), the 

9 Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) publish the request on a publicly avail11 able agency Web site in an easily identifiable lo12 cation; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) provide the public with at least 30 

14 days for notice and comment before issuing the 

15 requested waiver. 

16 ‘‘(B) WAIVERS GRANTED.—Not later than 30 

17 days after the Secretary decides to waive paragraph 

18 (2), the Secretary shall publish the decision and the 

19 justification for such decision in the Federal Reg20 ister and on the publicly available Web site described 

21 in subparagraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION OF THE OFFICE OF MAN23 AGEMENT AND BUDGET.—If the Secretary grants a 

24 waiver of paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit 


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1 to the Director of the Office of Management and 

2 Budget— 

3 ‘‘(i) a notification of the application of the 

4 exception; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) a statement describing the procure6 ment and the exception being applied.’’. 

7 (3) INTERCITY PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE.— 

8 Section 24405(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (7) 

11 through (11) as paragraphs (8) through (12), 

12 respectively; and 

13 (B) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(7) LIMITATIONS ON WAIVERS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) REQUESTS FOR WAIVERS.—Not later than 

17 7 days after the Secretary of Transportation receives 

18 a written request for a waiver of any requirement 

19 under this subsection, the head of such agency 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) publish the request on a publicly avail22 able agency Web site in an easily identifiable lo23 cation; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provide the public with a minimum of 

2 30 days for notice and comment before issuing 

3 the requested waiver. 

4 ‘‘(B) WAIVERS GRANTED.—Not later than 30 

5 days after the Secretary decides to waive any re6 quirement under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

7 publish the decision and the justification for such 

8 decision in the Federal Register and on the publicly 

9 available Web site described in subparagraph (A). 

10 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION OF THE OFFICE OF MAN11 AGEMENT AND BUDGET.—If the Secretary grants a 

12 waiver of any requirement under this subsection, the 

13 Secretary shall submit to the Director of the Office 

14 of Management and Budget— 

15 ‘‘(i) a notification of the application of the 

16 exception; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) a statement describing the procure18 ment and the exception being applied.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR ANNUAL REPORTING ON EX20 CEPTIONS TO DOMESTIC SOURCE REQUIRE21 MENTS FOR TRANSPORTATION INVEST22 MENTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

24 end of a fiscal year, the Inspector General of the Depart25 ment of Transportation shall submit a report to Congress 


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1 on the acquisitions supported by Federal transportation 

2 infrastructure investments which did not satisfy applicable 

3 domestic content standards. 

4 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report submitted 

5 under subsection (a) shall include, for the fiscal year cov6 ered by such report— 

7 (1) the number of all domestic content waivers 

8 issued for transportation infrastructure, rolling 

9 stock, and supporting equipment purchases; 

10 (2) the countries and specifications of the prod11 ucts for which waivers were granted; 

12 (3) an itemized list of all waivers granted with 

13 respect to articles, materials, and supplies; 

14 (4) any law that requires procurement of goods 

15 from a domestic source; 

16 (5) a citation to the treaty, international agree17 ment, or other law under which each waiver was 

18 granted, if applicable; 

19 (6) the specific exception under the applicable 

20 domestic content standards that was used to pur21 chase such articles, materials, or supplies, if any ar22 ticles, materials, or supplies were acquired from enti23 ties that manufacture articles, materials, or supplies 

24 outside of the United States; and 

25 (7) a summary of— 


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1 (A) the total procurement funds expended 

2 on articles, materials, and supplies manufac3 tured inside the United States; and 

4 (B) the total procurement funds expended 

5 on articles, materials, and supplies manufac6 tured outside of the United States. 

Æ 


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