OMB Increases Buy America Transparency at AGC’s Request

Thu, 08/29/2024 - 16:55

On August 27, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) responded to AGC’s request to review the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) information collection procedures of 19 different federal agencies. OMB indicated that the 19 agencies, which had been identified as out of compliance with all requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), have addressed those concerns and are using approved forms for their information collections.

As a reminder, AGC along with a coalition of industry partners, submitted a request for OMB to review PRA compliance of various federal agencies. Proper collection practices are necessary in order for agencies to properly assess the need for BABAA waivers on a project-by-project basis or using ones with general applicability for all projects. A , further highlighting the need for transparency, found that the EPA was unable to identify how many award recipients had used the approved waivers in their projects or to quantify how many infrastructure projects were subject to a waiver.

The request submitted by AGC on February 15th also called for the OMB to amend its BABAA implementation to streamline the waiver process and expedite the time necessary for approvals and denials. OMB did not respond to this portion of the request but indicated that they will respond to that request separately.

Additional actions that AGC has taken to ensure the BABAA regulations do not pose an undue burden on contractors:

AGC expresses concerns with proposals to expand Buy America requirements –June 2021
AGC weighs in on Buy America to US Senate – July 2021
AGC asks for Buy America transition period and improvements to waiver process – January 2022
– March 2022
to study impacts of Buy America on Supply Chain – May 2022
AGC of Buy America requirements – June 2022
AGC Member, , testifies on Buy America – December 2022
AGC Meets with on Buy America – January 2023
AGC Member, , testifies on Buy America – February 2023
on Made in America Guidance – March 2023
with Made in America Office – May 2023
AGC Member, , testifies on Buy America – January 2024
to address implementation challenges – February 2024
AGC Member, , testifies on Buy America – February 2024
AGC weighs in on removing long-standing FHWA waiver – May 2024
AGC and ARTBA Survey Members to Inform FHWA on Material Availability – May 2024
OMB responds to AGC and coalition allies’ request to address implementation challenges – August 2024