Any Relief from Buy America Requirements?

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently filed a request for a six-month waiver from the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) – more colloquially referred to as the Buy American rules. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) legislation updated the BABA rules to apply to all projects that receive federal funding for infrastructure as of November 18, 2021, the date the IIJA was published in the Federal Register. In the broadband world, this means the updated Buy American rules apply to federal grant programs administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), USDA, Economic Development Administration (EDA), and any other agency that awards a broadband infrastructure grant or loan. For broadband purposes, the USDA 6-month waiver, if awarded, would relax the rules for any ReConnect grants awarded by the agency during that time frame. If the USDA is granted this waiver, then any winners of the last round of ReConnect (which should be awarded soon) might get some breaks from the Buy American rules. But the USDA waiver makes it clear to me that folks need to be braced for Buy America to apply to the upcoming Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants. I’ve heard folks on industry panels predicting waivers for broadband projects, and my bet is that isn’t going to happen.

[Doug Dawson is president of CCG Consulting.]