II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 181 

To ensure that certain Federal public works and infrastructure projects use 

materials produced in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 20, 2017 

Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To ensure that certain Federal public works and infrastructure projects use materials produced in the United 

States, 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. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) COMMODITY CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL.— 

6 The term ‘‘commodity construction material’’ means 

7 a building material (other than iron and steel) that 

8 is used in a public work or infrastructure project, in9 cluding— 

10 (A) non-ferrous metal-based products; 


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1 (B) pipe, including plastics and polymer2 based pipes; 

3 (C) concrete and other aggregates; 

4 (D) glass; 

5 (E) lumber; 

6 (F) drywall; and 

7 (G) insulation. 

8 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 

9 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means the Comptroller Gen10 eral of the United States. 

11 (3) DEFICIENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘deficient 

12 program’’ means a program identified by the Comp13 troller General under section 2(c). 

14 (4) INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘infrastruc15 ture’’ includes, at a minimum— 

16 (A) roads, highways, and bridges; 

17 (B) public transportation; 

18 (C) water systems, including drinking 

19 water systems, wastewater systems, and dams, 

20 ports, harbors, and other water infrastructure; 

21 (D) railroads, including passenger and 

22 freight rail; 

23 (E) freight and intermodal facilities; 

24 (F) electrical transmission facilities and 

25 systems; 


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1 (G) utilities; 

2 (H) broadband infrastructure; and 

3 (I) Federal buildings and real property. 

4 (5) PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES.—The 

5 term ‘‘produced in the United States’’ means— 

6 (A) in the case of iron or steel products, 

7 that all manufacturing processes, from the ini8 tial melting stage through the application of 

9 coatings, occurred in the United States; 

10 (B) in the case of manufactured products, 

11 that— 

12 (i) all manufacturing processes for the 

13 product occurred in the United States; and 

14 (ii) the cost of the components of the 

15 product that are mined, produced, or man16 ufactured in the United States exceeds 50 

17 of the total cost of all components of the 

18 product; and 

19 (C) in the case of commodity construction 

20 materials, that all manufacturing processes oc21 curred in the United States. 

22 SEC. 2. INVENTORY OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR PUBLIC 

23 WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE. 

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

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 


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1 shall publish a report that identifies all Federal assistance 

2 programs for public works and infrastructure adminis3 tered by the Federal Government. 

4 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In issuing the report under 

5 subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall— 

6 (1) for each program, identify whether or not a 

7 domestic content preference requirement applies, in8 cluding requirements under— 

9 (A) section 2533a of title 10, United 

10 States Code; 

11 (B) section 313 of title 23, United States 

12 Code; 

13 (C) sections 8301 through 8305 of title 41, 

14 United States Code; 

15 (D) section 5323(j) of title 49, United 

16 States Code; 

17 (E) section 24305(f) of title 49, United 

18 States Code; 

19 (F) section 50101 of title 49, United 

20 States Code; 

21 (G) section 608 of the Federal Water Pol22 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1388); 

23 (H) section 5035 of the Water Infrastruc24 ture Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 

25 U.S.C. 3914); and 


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1 (I) any other relevant Federal law (includ2 ing regulations); 

3 (2) for each program, if a domestic content 

4 preference applies, provide details relating to the 

5 preference, including a description, the scope, and 

6 any exceptions; and 

7 (3) for each program, include a description of 

8 the type of infrastructure projects receiving funding 

9 under the program, including information relating 

10 to— 

11 (A) the number of entities that are partici12 pating in the program; 

13 (B) the amount of Federal funds that are 

14 made available for the program for each fiscal 

15 year; and 

16 (C) any other information that the Comp17 troller General determines to be relevant. 

18 (c) LIST OF DEFICIENT PROGRAMS.—In issuing the 

19 report under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

20 include a list of programs identified under that subsection 

21 for which a domestic content preference requirement de22 scribed in subsection (b)(1) does not apply. 

23 SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF BUY AMERICA PREFERENCE. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi25 sion of law, beginning on the date on which the CompVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 30, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181

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1 troller General issues the report under section 2(a), funds 

2 or credit assistance made available under a deficient pro3 gram may not be used for a project commencing after that 

4 date for the construction, alteration, maintenance, repair, 

5 rehabilitation, conversion, or extension of infrastructure or 

6 acquisition of equipment and vehicles relating to an infra7 structure project unless all of the iron, steel, manufac8 tured goods, and commodity construction materials used 

9 in the project are produced in the United States. 

10 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply in 

11 any case in which the head of the Federal department or 

12 agency involved finds that— 

13 (1) applying subsection (a) would be incon14 sistent with the public interest; 

15 (2) iron, steel, the relevant manufactured 

16 goods, and the relevant commodity construction ma17 terials are not produced in the United States in suf18 ficient and reasonably available quantities and of a 

19 satisfactory quality; or 

20 (3) inclusion of iron, steel, manufactured goods, 

21 and commodity construction materials produced in 

22 the United States will increase the cost of the overall 

23 project by more than 25 percent. 

24 (c) WRITTEN JUSTIFICATION.—If the head of the 

25 Federal department or agency determines that it is necVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Jan 30, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181

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1 essary to waive the application of subsection (a) based on 

2 a finding under subsection (b), the head of the department 

3 or agency shall publish in the Federal Register a detailed 

4 written justification as to why the provision is being 

5 waived. 

6 (d) CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREE7 MENTS.—This section shall be applied in a manner con8 sistent with United States obligations under international 

9 agreements. 

10 (e) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this Act imposes, cre11 ates, or alters any requirement for a program that is not 

12 a deficient program. 

13 SEC. 4. RULEMAKING. 

14 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue 

16 regulations for purposes of this Act that define the term 

17 ‘‘all manufacturing processes’’ for manufactured products 

18 and commodity construction materials that are used in 

19 public works and infrastructure projects. 

Æ 


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