The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Highways and Transit Subcommittee’s oversight hearing on the “Implementation of Buy America Provisions: Stakeholder Perspectives.”

The organizations signed below collectively submit the following comments to the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) “Review of its General Applicability Wavier of Buy America Requirements for Manufactured Products.” We appreciate the opportunity to share our perspective of this review as it relates to our construction materials.

The organizations signed below collectively submit the following comments on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed amendment to 2 CFR 184 and 200, and responses to questions outlined in the preamble of the notice of the proposed rule. We divide our comments into three sections: 1) Authorities contained in the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) pertinent to our construction materials; 2) Responses to questions in the preamble; and 3) Additions and strikes required by BABAA to the proposed rule.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) President and CEO Michael Johnson issued the following statement on the industry’s bipartisan Buy America exclusion that was issued as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act legislation.

We the below signed members of the Americans for Transportation Mobility write in support of the two Waivers to the Buy America Requirements for Construction Materials. The new requirements created by the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) introduce significant changes to existing Buy America requirements that require additional analysis and guidance from the Administration to implement.

The National Sand, Stone and Gravel Association (NSSGA) is the leading voice and advocate for the aggregates industry. We are committed to fulfilling the critical role the aggregates industry will play in providing billions of tons of aggregates the necessary to achieve the IIJA’s goals. The NSSGA submits this comment in response the Department of Transportation (DOT) Request for Information (RFI) Docket No.

Thank you for your leadership in implementing the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This investment in our infrastructure comes at a critical time as our nation navigates the ongoing supply chain crisis and inflation.

The National Sand, Stone and Gravel Association (NSSGA) submits this comment to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the Request for Information published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2022 on the implementation of the “Build America, Buy America Act” contained in P.L. 117-58. NSSGA represents aggregates producers and those who manufacture equipment and services that support the construction industry.

To be clear, our member companies support Buy America policies that ensure American manufacturing is protected and undue influence from foreign adversaries is not reaping the benefits of taxpayer investments; however, since Buy America’s enactment, Congress, and every administration, Republican and Democrat, have long understood that certain construction materials and their inputs should not be included under Buy America’s regulatory framework, and we reiterate this long-standing position.

We ask that the expansion of the Buy America provision to include “construction materials” be stricken from the bill and not be included in the legislation so that the construction supply chain is not adversely impacted.