Title: A bill to ensure that certain Federal public works and infrastructure projects use materials produced in the United States, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance

Summary:
This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to publish a report that identifies all federal assistance programs for public works and infrastructure administered by the federal government. For each such program, GAO shall: (1) identify whether a domestic content preference requirement applies and, if so, provide preference details; and (2) describe the type of infrastructure projects receiving funding, the number of entities that are participating, and the amount of federal funds that are made available for each fiscal year.
No funds or credit assistance made available under any such program for which a domestic content preference requirement does not apply may be used for a project commencing after the GAO issues such report for the construction, alteration, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, conversion, or extension of infrastructure or the acquisition of related equipment and vehicles unless all of the iron, steel, manufactured goods, and commodity construction materials used in the project are produced in the United States. Such prohibition shall not apply if the agency involved finds that:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 181 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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.

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

SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Commodity construction material.--The term ``commodity 
        construction material'' means a building material (other than 
        iron and steel) that is used in a public work or infrastructure 
        project, including--
                    (A) non-ferrous metal-based products;
                    (B) pipe, including plastics and polymer-based 
                pipes;
                    (C) concrete and other aggregates;
                    (D) glass;
                    (E) lumber;
                    (F) drywall; and
                    (G) insulation.
            (2) Comptroller general.--The term ``Comptroller General'' 
        means the Comptroller General of the United States.
            (3) Deficient program.--The term ``deficient program'' 
        means a program identified by the Comptroller General under 
        section 2(c).
            (4) Infrastructure.--The term ``infrastructure'' includes, 
        at a minimum--
                    (A) roads, highways, and bridges;
                    (B) public transportation;
                    (C) water systems, including drinking water 
                systems, wastewater systems, and dams, ports, harbors, 
                and other water infrastructure;
                    (D) railroads, including passenger and freight 
                rail;
                    (E) freight and intermodal facilities;
                    (F) electrical transmission facilities and systems;
                    (G) utilities;
                    (H) broadband infrastructure; and
                    (I) Federal buildings and real property.
            (5) Produced in the united states.--The term ``produced in 
        the United States'' means--
                    (A) 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;
                    (B) in the case of manufactured products, that--
                            (i) all manufacturing processes for the 
                        product occurred in the United States; and
                            (ii) the cost of the components of the 
                        product that are mined, produced, or 
                        manufactured in the United States exceeds 50 of 
                        the total cost of all components of the 
                        product; and
                    (C) in the case of commodity construction 
                materials, that all manufacturing processes occurred in 
                the United States.

SEC. 2. INVENTORY OF FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND 
              INFRASTRUCTURE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General shall publish a report that 
identifies all Federal assistance programs for public works and 
infrastructure administered by the Federal Government.
    (b) Requirements.--In issuing the report under subsection (a), the 
Comptroller General shall--
            (1) for each program, identify whether or not a domestic 
        content preference requirement applies, including requirements 
        under--
                    (A) section 2533a of title 10, United States Code;
                    (B) section 313 of title 23, United States Code;
                    (C) sections 8301 through 8305 of title 41, United 
                States Code;
                    (D) section 5323(j) of title 49, United States 
                Code;
                    (E) section 24305(f) of title 49, United States 
                Code;
                    (F) section 50101 of title 49, United States Code;
                    (G) section 608 of the Federal Water Pollution 
                Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1388);
                    (H) section 5035 of the Water Infrastructure 
                Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 3914); 
                and
                    (I) any other relevant Federal law (including 
                regulations);
            (2) for each program, if a domestic content preference 
        applies, provide details relating to the preference, including 
        a description, the scope, and any exceptions; and
            (3) for each program, include a description of the type of 
        infrastructure projects receiving 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 that the Comptroller 
                General determines to be relevant.
    (c) List of Deficient Programs.--In issuing the report under 
subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall include a list of 
programs identified under that subsection for which a domestic content 
preference requirement described in subsection (b)(1) does not apply.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF BUY AMERICA PREFERENCE.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
beginning on the date on which the Comptroller General issues the 
report under section 2(a), funds or credit assistance made available 
under a deficient program may not be used for a project commencing 
after that date for the construction, alteration, maintenance, repair, 
rehabilitation, conversion, or extension of infrastructure or 
acquisition of equipment and vehicles relating to an infrastructure 
project unless all of the iron, steel, manufactured goods, and 
commodity construction materials used in the project are produced in 
the United States.
    (b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply in any case in which 
the head of the Federal department or agency involved finds that--
            (1) applying subsection (a) would be inconsistent with the 
        public interest;
            (2) iron, steel, the relevant manufactured goods, and the 
        relevant commodity construction materials are not produced in 
        the United States in sufficient and reasonably available 
        quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or
            (3) inclusion of iron, steel, manufactured goods, and 
        commodity construction materials produced in the United States 
        will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 
        percent.
    (c) Written Justification.--If the head of the Federal department 
or agency determines that it is necessary to waive the application of 
subsection (a) based on a finding under subsection (b), the head of the 
department or agency shall publish in the Federal Register a detailed 
written justification as to why the provision is being waived.
    (d) Consistency With International Agreements.--This section shall 
be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under 
international agreements.
    (e) Limitation.--Nothing in this Act imposes, creates, or alters 
any requirement for a program that is not a deficient program.

SEC. 4. RULEMAKING.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Transportation shall issue regulations for purposes of 
this Act that define the term ``all manufacturing processes'' for 
manufactured products and commodity construction materials that are 
used in public works and infrastructure projects.
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