“Buy America” Domestic Sourcing Guidance and Waiver Process for DOI Financial Assistance Agreements

With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,  Federal financial assistance programs for infrastructure must comply with domestic content procurement preference requirements established in the “Build America, Buy America Act” at Section 70911 et seq. (“Buy America”).  Buy America’s domestic content procurement preference applies to all of the iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used for infrastructure projects under an award.  These requirements take effect on May 14, 2022; however, parties may seek waivers under certain circumstances.
DOI Financial Assistance Waivers

Approved DOI General Applicability Waivers

Waiver Requests Available for Public Comment

Approved Buy America Waiver Requests

Applicable Laws and Policies:​​​

When can the Buy America Domestic Sourcing Requirements be waived?

In accordance with Section 70914 (b), agencies may waive the Buy America domestic content procurement preference requirements if the agency finds that:

  1. applying the domestic content procurement preference would be inconsistent with the public interest (Public Interest Waiver);
  2. types of iron, steel, manufactured products, or construction materials are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or of a satisfactory quality (Non-Availability Waiver); or
  3. the inclusion of iron, steel, manufactured products, or construction materials produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent (Unreasonable Cost Waiver).

How do I submit a waiver request?

First, check the DOI General Applicability Waivers to determine if your project or materials meet the criteria of one of the already approved DOI-wide waivers. If the criteria are met, a separate waiver is not required.

If your project or materials do not meet the general applicability waiver criteria, you may submit a waiver request directly to the financial assistance awarding officer for your grant or cooperative agreement. The waiver request justification should include a detailed justification for the use of goods, products, or materials mined, produced, or manufactured outside the United States and a certification that the non-Federal entity made a good faith effort to solicit bids for domestic products supported by terms included in requests for proposals, contracts, and nonproprietary communications with potential suppliers.  To assist your financial assistance awarding officer with processing your request, note that the below information must be completed (as applicable) on your waiver request form.

  1. Type of waiver requested (non-availability, unreasonable cost, or public interest).
  2. Requesting entity and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) submitting the request.
  3. Department of Interior Bureau or Office who issued the award.
  4. Federal financial assistance listing name and number (reference block 2 on DOI Notice of Award)
  5. Financial assistance title of project (reference block 8 on DOI Notice of Award).
  6. Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN). 
  7. Federal funding amount (reference block 11.m. on DO  Notice of Award).
  8. Total cost of Infrastructure expenditures (includes federal and non-federal funds to the extent known).
  9. Infrastructure project description(s) and location(s) (to the extent known).
  10. List of iron or steel item(s), manufactured goods, and construction material(s) the recipient seeks to waive from Buy America requirements. Include the name, cost, countries of origin (if known), and relevant PSC or NAICS code for each.
  11. A certification that the recipient made a good faith effort to solicit bids for domestic products supported by terms included in requests for proposals, contracts, and nonproprietary communications with the prime contractor.
  12. A statement of waiver justification, including a description of efforts made (e.g., market research, industry outreach) by the recipient, in an attempt to avoid the need for a waiver. Such a justification may cite, if applicable, the absence of any Buy America-compliant bids received in response to a solicitation.
  13. Anticipated impact if no waiver is issued.

Entities applying for a waiver shall not include any Privacy Act information, sensitive data, or proprietary information within their waiver requests.

How will I know if my waiver was approved?

If the DOI determines that your waiver request (in whole or in part) appears to meet the legal and policy criteria of Buy America, and in accordance with Section 70914 (c), the DOI will post its proposed waiver justification for public comment for a period of not less than 15 days to the DOI Waiver Requests Available for Public Comment page.  The DOI will post approved waivers on the DOI Approved Buy America Requests page, and your financial assistance awarding officer will notify you if your waiver request was approved.

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