Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports (2026)
Chapter: FRONT MATTER
AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM
Sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration
Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports
This digest was prepared under ACRP Project 11-01, “Legal Aspects of Airport Programs,” for which the Transportation Research Board (TRB) is the agency coordinating the research. Under Topic 16-01, this digest was prepared by Paul Stephen Dempsey, Dempsey Aviation Consulting, Golden, CO and Andrew R. Goetz, Denver, CO. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this digest are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; or the program sponsors. The senior program officer is Jordan Christensen.
Background
There are over 4,000 airports in the country and most of these airports are owned by governments. A 2003 survey conducted by Airports Council International–North America concluded that city ownership accounts for 38 percent, followed by regional airports at 25 percent, single county at 17 percent, and multi-jurisdictional at 9 percent. Primary legal services to these airports are, in most cases, provided by municipal, county, and state attorneys.
Research reports and summaries produced by the Airport Continuing Legal Studies Project and published as ACRP Legal Research Digests are developed to assist these attorneys seeking to deal with the myriad of legal problems encountered during airport development and operations. Such substantive areas as eminent domain, environmental concerns, leasing, contracting, security, insurance, civil rights, and tort liability present cutting-edge legal issues where research is useful and indeed needed. Airport legal research, when conducted through the TRB’s legal studies process, either collects primary data that usually are not available elsewhere or performs analysis of existing literature.
Foreword
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act that established new conditions for spending federal money on infrastructure. BABA stipulates that manufactured products and construction materials must be produced in the United States when federal funds are used to finance infrastructure projects. BABA expands previous legislation that required airfield infrastructure projects that used federal money, mostly Airport Improvement Program grants, to use products and materials produced domestically. However, the new BABA makes federal funds available for airport terminal projects beyond runway or taxiway projects.
Under ACRP Project 11-01/Topic 16-01, “Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports,” Dempsey Aviation Consulting was asked to update the information in ACRP Legal Research Digest 18: Buy America Requirements for Federally Funded Airports (2013) to include new requirements under the Act. This includes the application of the domestic content thresholds; available waivers, other exceptions, and their practical implications; and considerations for management to achieve BABA compliance. The digest includes an appendix with a table that compares Buy America provisions in BABA in relation to prior legislation applicable to federal aviation projects and grant programs.
CONTENTS
C. Airport and Project Eligibility
III. Comparisons with Made in America Laws Preceding BABA
A. BABA’s Supplementation of Prior Law
F. International Trade Obligations and Restrictions
IV. BABA’s Regulatory Requirements: Introduction
VI. USDOT and FAA Requirements
B. Bidder/Offeror Requirements
VII. Waiver Criteria and Implementation
