BABA was enacted as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, §§ 70901–70927) in November 2021 and unified under a government-wide framework at 2 CFR Part 184, effective October 23, 2023. BABA did not replace older, agency-specific domestic-content requirements such as EPA's American Iron and Steel (AIS) requirement for covered State Revolving Fund projects. Under the law's savings provision (§ 70917), when BABA and AIS both cover iron-and-steel products on the same project, AIS compliance satisfies BABA's iron-and-steel requirement rather than requiring two separate demonstrations. BABA may separately add requirements for manufactured products and construction materials, which AIS does not cover. The law applies distinct standards to iron and steel, manufactured products, and construction materials. Its statutory waiver categories are public interest, nonavailability, and unreasonable cost; each requires agency review and generally a public notice-and-comment process.
BABA compliance shapes which products can be specified on covered federally assisted water, sewer, and transportation projects, making it material to manufacturers and reps as well as contractors. Surfacing funding-source and domestic-content requirements before a company commits significant time to a project is the kind of qualification detail Nonlinear pulls from bid packages alongside scope and quantities.
Source
- 2 CFR Part 184; Build America, Buy America Act, IIJA §§ 70901–70927 (including the § 70917 savings provision), Pub. L. 117-58; U.S. EPA, Build America, Buy America Act Overview.
- U.S. EPA, Build America, Buy America Act (BABA), Drinking Water State Revolving Fund guidance — confirming AIS compliance satisfies BABA's iron-and-steel requirement.
