Notice of Buy America Waiver Request
The purpose of this web page is to provide the public with an informal notice and comment opportunity regarding Buy America waiver requests. The FHWA is addressing two separate statutes regarding Buy America Waiver Notice provisions:
Public Law 111 117, the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010" was enacted December 16, 2009, Division A, Section 123 states: "Not less than 15 days prior to waiving, under his statutory authority, any Buy America requirement for Federal-aid highway projects, the Secretary of Transportation shall make an informal public notice and comment opportunity on the intent to issue such waiver and the reasons therefor: Provided, That the Secretary shall provide an annual report to the Appropriations Committees of the Congress on any waivers granted under the Buy America requirements."
The SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Bill (Public Law No. 110-244, 122 Stat.1572) was enacted June 6, 2008. Section 117, "Buy America waiver notification and annual reports," states in part:
"(a) Waiver notification.-
(1) In general.-If the Secretary of Transportation makes a finding under section 313(b) of title 23, United States Code, with respect to a project, the Secretary shall-
(A) publish in the Federal Register, before the date on which such finding takes effect, a detailed written justification as to the reasons that such finding is needed; and
(B) provide notice of such finding and an opportunity for public comment on such finding for a period of not to exceed 60 days.
(2) Limitation on statutory construction.-Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to require the effective date of a finding referred to in paragraph (1) to be delayed until after the close of the public comment period referred to in paragraph (1)(B)."
FHWA Notice, Comment and Review Process
For all waiver requests, we will post a notice of a waiver request on this web site and solicit public comments on the intent to issue a waiver for a 15-day period. Following this comment period, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register documenting our finding regarding the waiver. The effective date of the finding will be the date following publication in the Federal Register. Upon publication of the Federal Register notice, the public may submit comments on this finding to this web site for an additional 15 days following the effective date of the finding.
We will consider all comments received in the initial 15-day comment period during our evaluation of the waiver request. Comments received after this period, but before notice of our finding is published in the Federal Register, will be considered to the extent practical. Follow-up coordination on the comments received may result in a delay in the publication of our waiver finding in the Federal Register. Comments received during the 15-day comment period after notice of our finding is published in the Federal Register will be reviewed, but the finding will continue to remain valid. Comments received during the comment period after the effective date of the finding will be reviewed, and may influence the FHWA's decision to terminate or modify a finding.
Each Buy America waiver request that is currently open for public comment is identified below under the section "waiver request for comment." To view the information pertaining to any particular waiver request, click on the appropriate link and follow the directions for submitting a comment. A listing of all waiver requests either approved or denied dating back to March, 2008 is also provided in the appropriate sections below.
For additional information regarding the FHWA's Buy America policies see: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/cqit/buyam.cfm
- Waiver requests for comment
- Missouri Re-use of historical US 40 steel bridge truss members for construction of bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Little Blue River in City of Grandview, MO 03/22/16
- City of Chicago 1)ATS vehicles, 2)ATS guideway switches and 3) ATS running rails. 04/26/16
- Oregon Non-domestic iron and steel used in casings, housings, electrical and mechanical components 06/09/16
- Massachusetts non domestic iron and steel used in six electric vehicle DC fast charging stations. Maximum power (50kw), Voltage range (200 500 VDC) and current output (165 ADC) 06/16/16
- New York Thruster brakes and Roller bearings (In-kind replacement) 07/12/16
- 2016 Second Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 07/13/16
- Oregon Four rolling element bearing units with 17.3" inner diameter and radial load capacity of 816,000 lb. each 08/08/16
- Oregon Iron and steel components in 1) Span Lock, 2) PLC Cabinet, 3) Emergency power switches, 4)Motor drives, 5) Brake power and control panel, and 5) Electro-mechanical equipment for rehabilitation of Broadway, Burnside and Morrison Bridges 08/11/16
- Port Newark Container Terminal Iron and steel components in two Ship-to-Shore Container Gantry Cranes to accommodate Ultra Large Container Vessels at the Port Newark Container Terminal 09/20/16
- Texas Brake assembly with 5" mill duty shoe, Machinery rod ends with 2" bore, static load capacity 378955 lb. for rehabilitation of Cow Bayou Swing Bridge 09/21/16
- Florida Galvanized strands consisting of HDPE or HDPP sheath filled corrosion inhibitor meeting FDOT specification 938, ASTM and PTI requirements for SR-836/I-395 from West of I-95 to MacArthur Causeway Bridge 09/28/16
- New Jersey 2-MTU propulsion engines, 2-Reintges gearboxes, and 2-Rolls Royce water jet thrusters to repower NJ/NY SeaStreak ferry vessels. 10/05/16
- Ohio Trunnion bearings for emergency repair of Willow Avenue lift Bridge 10/13/16
- Waiver requests approved
- New York City DDC 8'-0" high oxidized stainless steel cable net 07/25/11
- Illinois Motor and Machinery brakes; maximum torque (20,288 ft-lb), Setting (17,000 ft-lb), Brake capacity (17,700 lb) and minimum brake wheel (13") 08/11/11
- North Carolina Motor and Machinery brakes; 16" Drum brake, Thruster disc, 2-Right angle gear reducers 11/14/11
- Washington 16'-Diameter Motor Brakes, weight 340lb and 13"-Diameter Machinery brakes, weight 250lb 11/14/11
- Merced County, CA Eight 2012 Ford Escape hybrid 4WD vehicles 01/11/12
- Guam 45' and 55' Pre-stressed Spun Concrete Transmission and Distribution Power poles 03/05/12
- Vermont 3 vehicles, Sedan or hatch back (Driver + 4 passenger capacity), two-wheeled drive with minimum 27 MPG. 03/05/12
- Utah Alpine de Sécurité (TAS) Gazex® Avalanche Exploder 03/06/12
- Wyoming TAS O'Bell Avalanche Initiating Blaster 03/22/12
- Guam 35' Pre-stressed Spun Concrete Poles 04/04/12
- Michigan Four (4) each Amacan K800 - 400/358XG-S submersible pumps; Two (2) each Amacan K800 - 401/506XG-S submersible pumps. 05/16/12
- Washington 1) Electrical Controls and Electrical Equipment; 2) Main Drive Electrical Motor; 3) Auxiliary Drive Electric Motor; 4) Span Lock Electric Motor & Controls 05/22/12
- Vermont and Massachusetts 9,000 LB of 1/2" x 0.008" steel fiber reinforcement (290 ksi ultimate tensile strength) 07/12/12
- Kentucky Iron and steel products in GenSet diesel engine and air compressor for CMAQ project 08/22/12
- America and Canadian iron and steel products being used in construction of New International Trade Crossing (NITC) 08/31/12
- New Hampshire Certain Iron and steel products in 1) Auxiliary two speed motor, 2) Auxiliary back up drive clutch, 3) Main span and backup span motor and 4) Brakes. 10/04/12
- Ohio Five 14" class 150 cast steel gate valve. 03/25/13
- Various Alternate Fuel Vehicle Projects 04/12/13
- Indiana Structural steel components 05/21/13
- Utah 1/2" x 0.008 steel fiber with ultimate tensile strength of 290ksi 07/23/13
- California Kings County, CA: 1 CNG Compressor/Controller; City of Exeter CA: 2 Storage spheres; Newman CA: 1 CNG fuelling station 09/03/13
- Chicago DOT Chicago Area Alternative Fuels Deployment Program Phase 2 09/05/13
- Various Alternate Fuel Vehicle Projects 11/15/13
- Colorado (TAS) Gazex Avalanche Exploder 02/12/14
- 2013 4th Quarter Alternate Fuel Vehicle Projects 03/04/14
- Maine 1). Motor Brakes; 2). Machinery Brakes; 3). Counterweight Sheave Bearings; 4). Deflector Sheave Bearings; 5). Operating Drum Bearings; 6). Span Lock Bearings 03/05/14
- 2014 First Quarter Alternate Fuel Vehicle Projects 06/23/14
- 2014 Second Quarter Vehicle Projects and Equipment 07/23/14
- New York 20" Trunnion mounted steel ball valve (ASCI 300/ API 6D/ASME 318) 09/23/14
- Virginia Mobile Harbor Crane, 100 tons minimum capacity 10/08/14
- 2014 Third Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 11/25/14
- New York Six 4" and two 12" trunnion mounted steel valves with maximum allowed operating pressure (MAOP) of 60# 12/01/14
- Illinois U-69 guard bars, Manganese castings, Turnout braces and weld kits 12/09/14
- New York Brakes and Bearings - NY Governors Island Ferry Lift Bridge 12/18/14
- Ohio 2-Cargo Cranes with minimum capacity of 92.5 US tons 03/11/15
- 2014 Fourth Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 03/25/15
- Nevada Dragnet Impact Absorption System 04/06/15
- 2015 First Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 06/12/15
- New York 1) Helical Bevel gearbox Rebuild kits for trail lock machinery, 2) Trail lock brake motors, 3) R1 and R2 Reducer Subcomponents, 4) Spherical Roller Bearings for bridge operating machinery, 5) Diesel Engine for Hydraulic Power Unit for emergency drive system, 6) Hydraulic Vane Motor for emergency Hydraulic drive system 06/18/15
- Florida Motor and Machinery brakes 07/20/15
- Virginia Voith 21/R5 propulsion units compatible with Caterpillar 3512C/1600 rpm engine 08/18/15
- Colorado Vanessa 30,000 series (42" 16" and 8") water line valves 08/18/15
- California Fabrication of cable mesh for 8'- 0" high oxidized stainless steel cable net safety fence 09/04/15
- Washington Stainless steel grooved butterfly valves, grooved couplings and electrical conduit bodies and fittings for the I-90 project in the state of Washington 09/10/15
- 2015 Second Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 10/06/15
- Alaska Ferryboat Propulsion System (propeller, shafting and reducing gear) 12/08/15
- 2015 Third Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 01/05/16
- Florida Motor brakes; (260 ft-lb, 125-lb, 10" dia.), Machinery brakes; (2,650 ft-lb, 990-lb, 19"dia.) 01/14/16
- 2015 Fourth Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 03/17/16
- Ohio Motor and Machinery brakes; maximum torque 100 ft-lb, wheel size 8" 03/22/16
- California Galvanized steel cable, galvanized cylindrical sockets, galvanized spherical nuts, galvanized open spelter socket and stainless steel bollard lamps for San Elijio Lagoon Pedestrian Bridge/I-5 North Bikeway 03/29/16
- New York City, NY 10" and 19" Type MBT Lined Brake shoe, 10" and 19" Brake bearing assembly kit, 19" Type MBT for restoration of electrical and mechanical systems of the Metropolitan Avenue Bridge over English Kills 04/20/16
- Virginia Voith 21/R5 Propulsion units compatible with domestic Caterpillar engine 3512C/1600 rpm 04/21/16
- 2016 First Quarter Vehicle and Equipment Projects 05/17/16
- North Dakota Submersible pump 1,200 GPM, 6" diameter discharge with 42.4 ft head. 06/15/16
- Waiver requests withdrawn
- Waiver requests denied
- Minnesota 16" pipe piling (10,000 linear feet) ) 03/07/08
- Contra Costa County Public Works Dept, California Hollow structural section round A500 Grade C, 10.75 x 0.625 steel pipe 06/10/09 (Recovery Act)
- Vermont 1" diameter stainless steel anchor bolts threaded 4" each end, meeting the requirements of ASTM F 594, Stainless alloy Group 6, Condition H 06/15/09 (Recovery Act)
- Pennsylvania Steel Pipe; A53 Grade B, 26" OD, 0.375" wall. 07/16/10 (Recovery Act)