Buy America requirements have been modified by the passage of the Build America Buy America Act (BABA) as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in November 2021. The new requirements will apply to all steel and iron products, and construction materials supplied and permanently incorporated into a federal-aid project regardless of the funding source used to purchase the product and regardless of how the products were procured (i.e., agency furnished materials, materials added by change order, etc.). On May 14, 2022, a 180-day temporary waiver of the new Buy America requirements was granted for the addition of construction materials, extending the effective date to November 10, 2022. Once the temporary waiver expires on November 9, 2022, the Buy America requirements will be extended to construction materials in addition to the current steel and iron products.
All projects authorized on or after November 10, 2022, must comply with the new Buy America requirements. The new Buy America requirements are downloadable in a pdf document: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/M-22-11.pdf
Local Public Agencies (LPAs) that adopt Caltrans Standard Special Provisions (SSPs) must include a newly updated SSP Section 6-1.04 BUY AMERICA in their contracts reflecting the Buy America requirements on construction materials. LPAs that do not adopt Caltrans SSPs can use the language in Exhibit 12-G, Section 8 as guidance to update their current Buy America specifications.
To access Office Bulletin 22-07 please refer to the following link:
https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/local-assistance/documents/ob/2022/ob22-07.pdf
Please find the Frequently Asked Questions pdf below to aid in the LPA Bidder Inquiries.
For any questions related to these updates, please contact Kitae Nam at kitae.nam@dot.ca.gov.
Please review original DLA Blog posts August 5, 2022, and September 21, 2022, regarding Buy America requirements.