Legal Aspects of Transit and Intermodal Transportation Programs. Topic 22-04. Update of Buy America

The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) plans to award a contract for a study and report. Legal reports sponsored by this project are published in TCRP's Legal Research Digest (LRD) series. Publications are available to some libraries and approximately 4,000 transportation lawyers and officials through the TRB distribution network. TRB has published a series of legal guides about the federal Buy America requirements that attach to federal financial assistance provided through the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). TCRP LRD 17: Guide to Federal Buy America Requirements (2001) covers all the Buy America requirements, emphasizing the requirements that apply to manufactured products and rolling stock. TCRP LRD 31: Guide to Federal Buy America Requirements—2009 Supplement updates the information presented in TCRP LRD 17. TCRP LRD 49: Updated Guide to Buy America Requirements—2015 Supplement explores the varying requirements attached to funding from multiple department of transportation (DOT) modal administrations, including the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This digest focuses on public-private partnerships, joint development, and multimodal projects with a public transportation nexus and that receive funding from one or more federal agencies. TCRP LRD 49 also discusses the evolving Buy America rules that apply to utility relocation. Buy America practices in the U.S. DOT have evolved since the publication of TCRP LRD 49, notably with the passage andimplementation of the 2021 Build America, Buy America Act (BABA), which requires iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in federally funded infrastructure projects to be produced in the United States. With cross-cutting applicability, the BABA construction materials provisions could significantly impact all federal programs. The objective of this research is to review and assess current laws, regulations, and guidance to: Produce a consolidated digest that updates and supersedes TCRP LRDs 17, 31, and 49, emphasizing evolving issues, including: Reinforcement of concepts embodied in FTA’s Bob Hope Airport Intermodal Center decision concerning multiple end products within a typical construction project; Application of the construction materials requirements flowing from BABA and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) August 23, 2023, guidance to federal agencies; Discussion of FTA/U.S. DOT decisions, concluding earlier FTA practices complied with BABA, except the treatment of construction materials; Implications and practices of FTA’s September 16, 2016, Dear Colleague letter allowing contractors to exercise the small purchase waiver on behalf of project sponsors; Impact of U.S. DOT’s Buy America and BABA waivers published on August 16, 2023; and the practical implications of compliance for project sponsors and contractors. Produce, as an appendix to the report, a practical guide for project participants (e.g., project managers and inspectors) that captures the salient aspects of compliance and project oversight. At the option of TCRP, should significant additional implementing regulations or guidance emerge during the pendency of the project or within 9 months of contract execution, provide an update incorporating the additional materials.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5567
• Supplemental Notes:
  • A Research Project Statement for TCRP Project J-05/Topic 22-04 was originally released on August 29, 2023, but no proposals were received, and no award was made. The purpose of this Research Project Statement is to re-announce this project. This Research Project Statement is slightly different from the original statement. Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Funding: $125000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project J-05, Topic 22-04

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Transit Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Transit Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  Chisholm-Smith, Gwen

• Start Date: 20240715
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Building materials; Compliance; Federal aid; Guidelines; Legal factors; Multimodal transportation; Public transit
• Identifier Terms: Buy America
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Finance; Law; Materials; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01892276
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project J-05, Topic 22-04
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Sep 4 2023 9:13PM