Build America, Buy America Act
Bill: H.R.2810 | Sponsor: Rep. Ryan, Tim (D-OH)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Build America, Buy America Act
This bill requires federal infrastructure programs to provide for the use of materials produced in the United States.
Each federal agency must submit to the Office of Management and Budget and to Congress a report that identifies each federal financial assistance program for infrastructure administered by the agency and (1) identify domestic content procurement preferences applicable to the assistance, (2) assess the applicability of such requirements, (3) provide details on any applicable domestic content procurement preference requirement, and (4) include a description of the type of infrastructure projects that receive funding under the program.
Each agency shall ensure that none of the funds made available for such a 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, subject to waivers where inconsistent with the public interest, where not produced in sufficient quantities or satisfactory quality, or where such inclusion will increase the cost of the project by more than 25%.

To ensure that certain Federal infrastructure programs require the use 
  of materials produced in the United States, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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--
            (1) the United States must make significant investments to 
        install, upgrade, or replace the public works infrastructure of 
        the United States;
            (2) with respect to investments in the infrastructure of 
        the United States, taxpayers expect that their public works 
        infrastructure will be produced in the United States by 
        American workers;
            (3) United States taxpayer dollars invested in public 
        infrastructure should not be used to reward companies that have 
        moved their operations, investment dollars, and jobs to foreign 
        countries or foreign factories, particularly those that do not 
        share or openly flout the commitments of the United States to 
        environmental, worker, and workplace safety protections;
            (4) in procuring materials for public works projects, 
        entities using taxpayer-financed Federal assistance should give 
        a commonsense procurement preference for the materials and 
        products produced by companies and workers in the United States 
        in accordance with the high ideals embodied in the 
        environmental, worker, workplace safety, and other regulatory 
        requirements of the United States;
            (5) the benefits of domestic content preferences extend 
        beyond economics;
            (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 infrastructure of the United States with high-quality 
        American-made materials;
            (9) Buy America laws create demand for domestically 
        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;
            (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 international 
                obligations of the United States; and
                    (B) together with the government procurements to 
                which the laws apply, are important levers for ensuring 
                that United States manufacturers 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 preference.--The term 
        ``domestic content procurement preference'' means a requirement 
        that no amounts made available through a program for Federal 
        financial assistance may be obligated for a project unless--
                    (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 financial 
                assistance'' has the meaning given the term in section 
                200.40 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
                successor regulations).
                    (B) Inclusion.--The term ``Federal financial 
                assistance'' includes all expenditures by a Federal 
                agency for an infrastructure project.
            (5) Infrastructure.--The term ``infrastructure'' includes, 
        at a minimum, the structures, facilities, and equipment for, in 
        the United States--
                    (A) roads, highways, and bridges;
                    (B) public transportation;
                    (C) dams, ports, harbors, and other maritime 
                facilities;
                    (D) intercity passenger and freight railroads;
                    (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--
            (1) submit to the Office of Management and Budget and to 
        Congress, including a separate notice to each appropriate 
        congressional committee, a report that identifies each Federal 
        financial assistance program for infrastructure administered by 
        the Federal 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 Federal financial assistance 
program--
            (1) identify all domestic content procurement preferences 
        applicable to the Federal financial assistance;
            (2) assess the applicability of the domestic content 
        procurement preference requirements, including--
                    (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;
                    (E) section 603 of the Federal Water Pollution 
                Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1388);
                    (F) section 1452(a)(4) of the Safe Drinking Water 
                Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12(a)(4));
                    (G) section 5035 of the Water Infrastructure 
                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 procurement 
                preference in Federal law (including regulations);
            (3) provide details on any applicable domestic content 
        procurement preference requirement, including the purpose, 
        scope, applicability, and any exceptions and waivers issued 
        under the requirement; and
            (4) include a description of the type of infrastructure 
        projects that receive funding under the program, including 
        information relating to--
                    (A) the number of entities that are participating 
                in the program;
                    (B) the amount of Federal funds that are made 
                available for the program for each fiscal year; and
                    (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 programs for infrastructure identified under that 
subsection for which a domestic content procurement preference 
requirement--
            (1) does not apply; or
            (2) is subject to a waiver of general applicability 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 infrastructure, 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 applies a domestic 
content procurement preference under this section may waive the 
application of that preference 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 interest;
            (2) types of iron, steel, or manufactured products are not 
        produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably 
        available quantities or of a satisfactory 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 percent.
    (c) Written Justification.--Before issuing a waiver under 
subsection (b), the head of the Federal agency 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 comment on the 
        proposed waiver.
    (d) Prohibition on Waivers of General Applicability.--A waiver 
issued under subsection (b) shall be limited to the use of specific 
products for use in a specific project.
    (e) Consistency With International Agreements.--This section shall 
be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under 
international agreements.

SEC. 6. OMB GUIDANCE.

    The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall--
            (1) issue guidance to the head of each Federal agency--
                    (A) to assist in identifying deficient programs 
                under section 4(c); and
                    (B) to assist in applying new domestic content 
                procurement preferences under section 5; and
            (2) if necessary, amend subtitle A of title 2, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), 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 assistance.

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.
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