Buy American Waivers Open for Comment (Excel) 

Please email your comments about Buy American Waivers to the Buy American Preferences Team

Action: Notice, request for comments.

Close of public comment period: 10 days after the web posting date.

Summary: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking comments on a waiver of the Buy America requirements of United States Code (U.S.C) Title 49 § 50101(b) for an approved airport development project. 

Under 49 USC § 50101(b) and 49 CFR § 1.83(a)(11), the FAA is given the authority to waive these Buy American Preferences if certain market or product conditions exist. These are:

1. Applying the Buy American Preferences would be inconsistent with the public interest;
2. The steel or goods produced in the U.S. are not produced in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not of a satisfactory quality;
3. When the cost of components and subcomponents produced in the U.S. is more than 60 percent of the cost of all components of the facility or equipment procured and final assembly occurs in the United States; or
4. Including domestic material will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent.

Where necessary, the FAA in accordance with U.S.C. Title 49 § 50101(b)(2), Executive Order 14005, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. No. 117-58), Build America, Buy America (BABA) obtained confirmation of both a product market and/or manufacturers that can produce the product in the United States from domestically available materials. Only after determining that there was not a sufficient amount and/or satisfactory quality of the product manufactured in the U.S., the FAA Office of Airport Financial Planning and Programming has considered requesting a Type II waiver under BABA provisions with approval by the Office of Management & Budget. All waivers are limited to five years unless the market changes or revoked earlier by the FAA.   

The FAA will consider all comments received within the initial 10 days prior to the waiver’s effective date. Comments received after this period will be considered to the extent practical. Comments received during the comment period after the effective date of the finding will be reviewed and may influence the FAA’s decision to terminate or modify a finding.