I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2810 
To ensure that certain Federal infrastructure programs require the use of 
materials produced in the United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2021 
Mr. RYAN (for himself, Mr. ADERHOLT, and Mr. MRVAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure that certain Federal infrastructure programs re-
quire the use of materials produced in the United States, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Build America, Buy 
America Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(6) by incentivizing domestic manufacturing, 
domestic content preferences reinvest tax dollars in 
companies and processes using the highest labor and 
environmental standards in the world; 
(7) strong domestic content preference policies 
act to prevent shifts in production to countries that 
rely on production practices that are significantly 
less energy efficient and far more polluting than 
those in the United States; 
(8) for over 75 years, Buy America and other 
domestic preference laws have been part of the 
United States procurement policy, ensuring that the 
United States can build and rebuild the infrastruc-
ture of the United States with high-quality Amer-
ican-made materials; 
(9) Buy America laws create demand for do-
mestically produced goods, helping to sustain and 
grow domestic manufacturing and the millions of 
jobs domestic manufacturing supports throughout 
product supply chains; 
(10) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 
domestic procurement preference policies apply to all 
Federal Government procurement and to various 
Federal-aid infrastructure programs; 
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(11) a robust domestic manufacturing sector is 
a vital component of the national security of the 
United States; 
(12) as more manufacturing operations of the 
United States have moved offshore, the strength and 
readiness of the defense industrial base of the 
United States has been diminished; and 
(13) domestic procurement preference laws— 
(A) are fully consistent with the inter-
national obligations of the United States; and 
(B) together with the government procure-
ments to which the laws apply, are important 
levers for ensuring that United States manufac-
turers can access the government procurement 
markets of the trading partners of the United 
States. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DEFICIENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘deficient 
program’’ means a program identified by the head of 
a Federal agency under section 4(c). 
(2) DOMESTIC CONTENT PROCUREMENT PREF-
ERENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic content procurement 
preference’’ means a requirement that no amounts 
made available through a program for Federal finan-
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cial assistance may be obligated for a project un-
less— 
(A) all iron and steel used in the project 
are produced in the United States; or 
(B) the manufactured products used in the 
project are produced in the United States. 
(3) FEDERAL
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 
agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 
in section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code. 
(4) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal fi-
nancial assistance’’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 200.40 of title 2, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or successor regulations). 
(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Federal fi-
nancial assistance’’ includes all expenditures by 
a Federal agency for an infrastructure project. 
(5) INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term ‘‘infrastruc-
ture’’ includes, at a minimum, the structures, facili-
ties, and equipment for, in the United States— 
(A) roads, highways, and bridges; 
(B) public transportation; 
(C) dams, ports, harbors, and other mari-
time facilities; 
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(D) intercity passenger and freight rail-
roads; 
(E) freight and intermodal facilities; 
(F) airports; 
(G) water systems, including drinking 
water and wastewater systems; 
(H) electrical transmission facilities and 
systems; 
(I) utilities; 
(J) broadband infrastructure; and 
(K) buildings and real property. 
(6) PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES.—The 
term ‘‘produced in the United States’’ means, in the 
case of iron or steel products, that all manufacturing 
processes, from the initial melting stage through the 
application of coatings, occurred in the United 
States. 
(7) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means the 
construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of 
infrastructure in the United States. 
SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF DEFICIENT PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal 
agency shall— 
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(1) submit to the Office of Management and 
Budget and to Congress, including a separate notice 
to each appropriate congressional committee, a re-
port that identifies each Federal financial assistance 
program for infrastructure administered by the Fed-
eral agency; and 
(2) publish in the Federal Register the report 
under paragraph (1). 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In the report under subsection 
(a), the head of each Federal agency shall, for each Fed-
eral financial assistance program— 
(1) identify all domestic content procurement 
preferences applicable to the Federal financial as-
sistance; 
(2) assess the applicability of the domestic con-
tent procurement preference requirements, includ-
ing— 
(A) section 313 of title 23, United States 
Code; 
(B) section 5323(j) of title 49, United 
States Code; 
(C) section 22905(a) of title 49, United 
States Code; 
(D) section 50101 of title 49, United 
States Code; 
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(E) section 603 of the Federal Water Pol-
lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1388); 
(F) section 1452(a)(4) of the Safe Drink-
ing Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(4)); 
(G) section 5035 of the Water Infrastruc-
ture Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 
U.S.C. 3914); 
(H) any domestic content procurement 
preference included in an appropriations Act; 
and 
(I) any other domestic content procure-
ment preference in Federal law (including regu-
lations); 
(3) provide details on any applicable domestic 
content procurement preference requirement, includ-
ing the purpose, scope, applicability, and any excep-
tions and waivers issued under the requirement; and 
(4) include a description of the type of infra-
structure projects that receive funding under the 
program, including information relating to— 
(A) the number of entities that are partici-
pating in the program; 
(B) the amount of Federal funds that are 
made available for the program for each fiscal 
year; and 
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(C) any other information the head of the 
Federal agency determines to be relevant. 
(c) LIST OF DEFICIENT PROGRAMS.—In the report 
under subsection (a), the head of each Federal agency 
shall include a list of Federal financial assistance pro-
grams for infrastructure identified under that subsection 
for which a domestic content procurement preference re-
quirement— 
(1) does not apply; or 
(2) is subject to a waiver of general applica-
bility not limited to the use of specific products for 
use in a specific project. 
SEC. 5. APPLICATION OF BUY AMERICA PREFERENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Federal 
agency shall ensure that none of the funds made available 
for a Federal financial assistance program for infrastruc-
ture, including each deficient program, may be used for 
a project unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured 
products used in the project are produced in the United 
States. 
(b) WAIVER.—The head of a Federal agency that ap-
plies a domestic content procurement preference under 
this section may waive the application of that preference 
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in any case in which the head of the Federal agency finds 
that— 
(1) applying the domestic content procurement 
preference would be inconsistent with the public in-
terest; 
(2) types of iron, steel, or manufactured prod-
ucts are not produced in the United States in suffi-
cient and reasonably available quantities or of a sat-
isfactory quality; or 
(3) the inclusion of iron, steel, or manufactured 
products produced in the United States will increase 
the cost of the overall project by more than 25 per-
cent. 
(c) WRITTEN
JUSTIFICATION.—Before issuing a 
waiver under subsection (b), the head of the Federal agen-
cy shall— 
(1) publish in the Federal Register and make 
publicly available in an easily accessible location on 
the website of the Federal agency a detailed written 
explanation for the proposed determination to issue 
the waiver; and 
(2) provide a reasonable period for public com-
ment on the proposed waiver. 
(d) PROHIBITION ON WAIVERS OF GENERAL APPLI-
CABILITY.—A waiver issued under subsection (b) shall be 
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limited to the use of specific products for use in a specific 
project. 
(e) CONSISTENCY WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREE-
MENTS.—This section shall be applied in a manner con-
sistent with United States obligations under international 
agreements. 
SEC. 6. OMB GUIDANCE. 
The Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et shall— 
(1) issue guidance to the head of each Federal 
agency— 
(A) to assist in identifying deficient pro-
grams under section 4(c); and 
(B) to assist in applying new domestic con-
tent procurement preferences under section 5; 
and 
(2) if necessary, amend subtitle A of title 2, 
Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-
tions), to ensure that domestic content procurement 
preference requirements required by this Act or 
other Federal law are imposed through the terms 
and conditions of awards of Federal financial assist-
ance. 
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SEC. 7. APPLICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act shall apply to a Federal 
financial assistance program for infrastructure only to the 
extent that a domestic content procurement preference as 
described in section 5 does not already apply to iron, steel, 
and manufactured products. 
(b) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this Act affects 
a domestic content procurement preference for a Federal 
financial assistance program for infrastructure that is in 
effect and that meets the requirements of section 5. 
Æ 
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