New “Buy America” legislation introduced in the House of Representatives this month would restrict infrastructure projects funded by the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and a range of other federal programs to the use of American-made iron and steel products, though the legislation would not impact Drinking Water SRF projects.
Sponsored by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), the “Invest in American Jobs Act” (H.R. 949) specifies that no CWSRF dollars shall be spent on water infrastructure projects unless all of the iron, steel and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States. The bill would allow EPA to issue exemptions in cases where such American-made products would increase overall project costs by 25 percent, or when domestic products are not available in sufficient quantities or of satisfactory quality. The bill would put similar restrictions on a number of federal programs that fund highway, bridge, and rail infrastructure.
Congress has applied similar “Buy America” restrictions to the SRF programs in the past (most notably for funding received through the 2009 economic stimulus legislation) but H.R. 949 would permanently add them to the CWSRF statute. There is no similar proposal to add these requirements to projects funded through the Drinking Water SRF, and the legislation appears to face tough prospects in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.