Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports (2026)
Chapter: APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS
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VII. WAIVER CRITERIA AND IMPLEMENTATION
Next Chapter: APPENDIX B. LIST OF ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS
Suggested Citation:
"APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29386.
APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS
Sources: Wyatt, T. R., ACRP Legal Research Digest 18: Buy America Requirements for Federally Funded Airports (2013), https://doi.org/10.17226/22635 at 5-7.
| Buy American Act of 1933 (BAA) (Pub. L. No. 72-428, Tit. III, 47 Stat. 1520) |
Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 (ASCE) (Pub. L. 101–508, §9129, 104 Stat. 1388–371-372) |
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5, §1605, 123 Stat. 303) |
Build America, Buy America Act of 2021 (BABA) (Pub. L. No. 117-58, §§ 70901-52, 135 STAT. 1294-1312) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applies to: | Federal agencies 48 C.F.R.§ 25.000) |
FAA | Federal agencies, FAA (48 C.F.R. § 25.600) |
All federally funded infrastructure projects (including airports) |
| Unmanufactured goods | Must be mined or produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | Exempt | Exempt | Construction materials must be produced in the U.S. |
| Manufactured Goods | Must be manufactured in the U.S. substantially all from goods mined, produced, or manufactured in the US (subject to exceptions) | Must be produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | Must be produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | Must be produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) |
| Steel | Must be produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | Must be produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | All manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occur in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | |
| Iron | Must be produced in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | All manufacturing processes, from the initial melting stage through the application of coatings, occur in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | ||
| Cement | Exempt | Exempt | Must be produced in the U.S. as part of manufactured goods (subject to exceptions) | |
| Construction Materials | Must be mined, produced or manufactured in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) | Exempt | Exempt | All manufacturing processes must occur in the U.S. (subject to exceptions) |
| Cement | Exempt | Exempt | Cement and cementitious materials, aggregated such as stone, sand or gravel, or aggregated binding agents or additives are exempt from the definition of construction materials. However, OMB regulations prescribe that cement may be considered a component of ‘manufactured goods’ under certain circumstances |
Suggested Citation:
"APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29386.
| Buy American Act of 1933 (BAA) (Pub. L. No. 72-428, Tit. III, 47 Stat. 1520) |
Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 (ASCE) (Pub. L. 101–508, §9129, 104 Stat. 1388–371-372) |
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5, §1605, 123 Stat. 303) |
Build America, Buy America Act of 2021 (BABA) (Pub. L. No. 117-58, §§ 70901-52, 135 STAT. 1294-1312) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waivers | ||||
| Type I, Public Interest | Head of department or independent establishment concerned determines applicability to be inconsistent with the public interest | The Secretary of Transportation finds that applicability would be inconsistent with the public interest | Head of the federal department or agency involved finds that applicability would be inconsistent with the public interest | Head of a federal agency finds that applying the domestic content procurement preference would be inconsistent with the public interest with review by OMB’s MIAO, § 70935 |
| Type II, Nonavailability | Materials and products are not produced in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality | Iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the U.S- in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality | Types of iron, steel, manufactured products, or construction materials are not produced in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or of a satisfactory quality | |
| Type III, Substantial Domestic Content | Materials of foreign origin set at 50% or more of the cost of all products used in such materials (Executive Order 10582) | Cost of components and subcomponents produced in the U.S. is more than 60% of the cost of all components of the facility or equipment | Cost of the components of the manufactured product that are mined, produced, or manufactured in the U.S. is greater than 55% of the total cost of all components of the manufactured product. BABA prescribes that earlier domestic preference legislation applies, so for airports, the threshold is 60%. | |
| Type IV, Unreasonable Cost | Six percent surcharge to foreign line items if import duties and costs incurred after arrival in the U.S. were already included in the bid; 10% surcharge if duties and costs were excluded; 12% surcharge if low domestic bidder is small business | Inclusion of domestic material will increase the cost of the overall project contract by more than 25% | Inclusion of iron, steel, and manufactured goods produced in the U.S. will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25% | Inclusion of iron, steel, manufactured products or construction materials produced in the U.S. will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25% |
Suggested Citation:
"APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29386.
| Buy American Act of 1933 (BAA) (Pub. L. No. 72-428, Tit. III, 47 Stat. 1520) |
Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act of 1990 (ASCE) (Pub. L. 101–508, §9129, 104 Stat. 1388–371-372) |
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub. L. 111-5, §1605, 123 Stat. 303) |
Build America, Buy America Act of 2021 (BABA) (Pub. L. No. 117-58, §§ 70901-52, 135 STAT. 1294-1312) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication of Waivers or Exceptions | If an exception is granted, head of department or independent establishment making the contract must make a public record of the findings which justified the exception | If the head of a federal department or agency determines that it is necessary to apply a waiver to a provision, the head of the department or agency shall publish in the Federal Register a detailed written justification as to why the provision is being waived | Before issuing a waiver, the head of the federal agency shall make publicly available on OMB and agency websites a detailed written explanation for the proposed waiver, and provide a period of not less than 15 days for public comment on the proposed waiver. For review of general applicability waivers, the head of the federal agency shall publish in the Federal Register the justification for the waiver and requests for public comment on the continued need for the waiver | |
| International trade obligations and agreements | Persons or enterprises of foreign governments maintaining a significant and persistent pattern of discrimination against U.S. products or services are prohibited from entering into contracts | Provisions shall be applied in a manner consistent with U.S. obligations under international agreements | Provisions shall be applied in a manner consistent with U.S. obligations under international agreements § 70914(e) |
Suggested Citation:
"APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29386.
Suggested Citation:
"APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29386.
Suggested Citation:
"APPENDIX A. COMPARISON OF BUY AMERICA PROVISIONS IN LEGISLATION APPLICABLE TO FEDERAL AVIATION PROJECTS AND GRANT PROGRAMS." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2026. Buy America Requirements for Federally Obligated Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/29386.
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