More progress on the Buy American front this week as yet another agency recognized the complex impact these Recovery Act rules have on projects. The Indian Health Service (IHS) issued a nationwide di minimis waiver for incidental components of sanitation facilities construction projects funded by ARRA.

As with the di minimis waivers in place from EPA and USDA, the waiver covers components that are incorporated into the project, yet cumulatively comprise no more than a total of 5 percent of the total materials used in a project. For many of these incidental components, the country of origin and the availability of alternatives is not always readily or reasonably identifiable prior to procurement in the normal course of business; for other incidental components, the country of origin may be known but the miscellaneous nature of the products in conjunction with their low cost (both individually and procured in bulk) characterize them as incidental to the facility or project.

The majority of the services sanitation facilities projects are in remote locations. The service argued that a disproportionate cost and delay would be imposed on projects if they did not issue this waiver.  IHS said it would be inconsistent with the public interest to apply the Buy American requirement to incidental components.  AGC last year urged agencies like HIS to issue di minimis waivers to avoid costly delays caused by the stimulus' Buy American provisions.

Also on the Buy American front is a pair of new waivers from the EPA. These waivers are unique in that they are retroactive, applying to materials that were already put in place, rather than requesting a waiver for the purposes of moving forward with construction. Waivers for two cities in Washington State, Richland and Bridgeport, were requested under the public interest section of the waiver authority. Neither waiting for domestic suppliers nor pulling out previously installed goods was deemed in the public interest because of unacceptable delays and cost overruns on these projects. AGC supports the waivers and will continue to monitor progress on this front.

The U.S. EPA unveiled is 2008 Clean Watershed Needs Survey (CWNS).  The report identifies projected investment needs in excess of $298.1 billion for clean water infrastructure over the next 20 years for individual states.

This total represents a 17 percent increase over EPA's 2004 study.  Combined with the latest Drinking Water Needs Survey released in March of 2009, the EPA has identified roughly $632.9 billion in total water infrastructure capital investment needs over the next 20 years.

Categories representing the largest segment of needs include:secondary treatment;  advanced treatment; replacement and rehabilitaion of sewers; and addressing Combined Sewer Overflows(CSO).

AGC will conduct additional analysis of the new report and share the data with our members.  This increase in the national needs supports AGC's request for additional funding for drinking and wastewater infrastructure. To learn more about water infrastructure needs and related legislation, please visit www.agc.org/water.

To read a complete copy of the report, click here.

For additional information, contact Perry Fowler at fowlerp@agc.org or (703)837-5321.