Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports (2026)
Chapter: I. INTRODUCTION
BUY AMERICA REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERALLY OBLIGATED AIRPORTS
Paul Stephen Dempsey, Dempsey Aviation Consulting, Golden, CO and Andrew R. Goetz, Denver, CO
I. INTRODUCTION
This study addresses the Buy America1 requirements applicable to airport projects and updates ACRP Legal Research Digest 18: Buy America Requirements for Federally Funded Airports published in 2013.2 This study also summarizes requirements promulgated by earlier legislation and regulations applicable to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and its modal administrations, with an emphasis on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Congress has enacted numerous statutes imposing domestic preferences on federal spending, beginning with the Buy American Act of 1933.3 The Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) was included as Title IX of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021.4
As initially drafted, the Invest in America Act (which later became the IIJA) would have provided billions of dollars in federal highway aid, highway safety, transit, rail and motor carrier programs, and research for the USDOT.5 Congressional amendments expanded the bill to include a budget of $1.2 trillion to fund a wider array of transport- and non-transport-related infrastructure projects, including
at a minimum, the structures, facilities, and equipment for roads, highways, and bridges; public transportation; dams, ports, harbors, and other maritime facilities; intercity passenger and freight railroads; freight and intermodal facilities; airports; water systems, including drinking water and wastewater systems; electrical transmission facilities and systems; utilities; broadband infrastructure; and buildings and real property; and structures, facilities, and equipment that generate, transport, and distribute energy including electric vehicle (EV) charging.6
Pursuant to the IIJA, an infrastructure project consists of “any activity related to the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair” of American infrastructure.7 IIJA regulations provide that the term infrastructure is to be interpreted liberally, taking into account whether the project serves a public function, is publicly owned and operated, or privately owned but operated on behalf of the public.8 Hence, what began as a transportation infrastructure funding bill evolved into a more comprehensive infrastructure funding law, coupled with a comprehensive domestic-content requirement.
This report focuses on BABA’s application to airport infrastructure projects. The statute explicitly includes airports within its definition of infrastructure and makes it clear that it is not restricted to airside9 development projects. Also reviewed
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1 At the outset, note that the terms “Buy America” and “Buy American”, though similar, are not synonymous. They both refer to domestic content preferences in government procurement. “Buy American” generally refers to the requirements imposed by the Buy American Act of 1933 and progeny, while “Buy America” refers to a more comprehensive set of domestic content obligations imposed upon federally financed assistance programs and, as emphasized in recent legislation, infrastructure projects.
2 This study updates the information in ACRP Legal Research Digest 18: Buy America Requirements for Federally Funded Airports (2013) https://doi.org/10.17226/22635. Additional National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine studies that have addressed Buy America requirements in USDOT federally funded projects include: TCRP Legal Research Digest 17: Guide to Federal Buy America Requirements (2001); TCRP Legal Research Digest 31: Guide to Federal Buy America Requirements—2009 Supplement (2010) https://doi.org/10.17226/22966; TCRP Legal Research Digest 49: Updated Guide to Buy America Requirements—2015 Supplement (2017), https://doi.org/10.17226/24780; and NCHRP Legal Research Digest 80: Buy America Requirements for Federal Highway Projects (2020) https://doi.org/10.17226/25799.
3 Originally, 41 U.S.C. §§ 10a–10d, now 41 U.S.C. §§ 8301–8305; see https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title41/subtitle4/chapter83&edition=prelim (last visited Sep. 15, 2025).
4 Pub. L. 117-58, §§ 70901-52, especially §§ 70912(6) and 70914 in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021.
5 Industry Associations Applaud U.S. House Passage of INVEST in America Act—Updated, Roads&Bridges (July 1, 2021), https://www.roadsbridges.com/law/news/10654112/industry-associations-applaud-us-house-passage-of-invest-in-america-act-updated (last visited Sep. 26, 2025); Invest in America Act: Frequently Asked Questions, https://democrats-transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2021%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20INVEST%20in%20America%20Act%20with%20Water.pdf (last visited Sep. 26, 2025). Press Release, USDOT Chairs DeFazio, Norton, and Payne Introduce the INVEST in America Act to Create Millions of Jobs Bringing Our Infrastructure into the Modern Era (June 4, 2021), https://web.archive.org/web/20210723033513/https://transportation.house.gov/news/press-releases/chairs-defazio-norton-and-payne-introduce-the-invest-in-america-act-to-create-millions-of-jobs-bringing-our-infrastructure-into-the-modern-era- (last visited Sep. 26, 2025).
6 Office of Management and Budget, M-24-02: Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies at 18 (Oct. 25, 2023) [hereinafter OMB, Memorandum M-24-02], https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/M-24-02-Buy-America-Implementation-Guidance-Update.pdf (last visited Mar. 18, 2025).
7 Id.
8 Id. § 4(d), at 3, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/M-24-02-Buy-America-Implementation-Guidance-Update.pdf (last visited Mar. 11, 2025).
9 “Airside” refers to the portion of the airport where aircraft movements occur and areas that directly serve the aircraft, including runways, taxiways, and maintenance and fueling areas.
