WASHINGTON (Aug. 14, 2023) — During the State of the Union address, President Joe Biden committed to ensuring construction materials used in federally funded infrastructure projects are made in America. Delivering on the president’s commitments, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released final guidance to boost the use of American-made goods in infrastructure projects.
The final guidance will support implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s (BIL) statutory requirements that manufactured products, construction materials, and iron and steel used in federally funded infrastructure projects are made in America. It also sets forth these standards for construction materials while serving as a guide to agencies in using taxpayer dollars to strengthen the economy by supporting the creation of jobs in both construction and manufacturing by expanding domestic production through infrastructure investment.
When Biden signed the BIL, it represented a once-in-a-generation investment in U.S. infrastructure, creating a historic opportunity to invest in American industry and workers by strengthening Made in America standards. The law, which includes the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA), significantly expanded these standards to require that federally funded infrastructure projects use American-made iron, steel, construction materials and manufactured products. That means taxpayer dollars funding U.S. infrastructure projects are invested back in American jobs and manufacturing.
Since the bill’s passage, the Biden-Harris Administration has made significant progress rebuilding roads and bridges, making public transportation accessible, investing in clean infrastructure, upgrading power grids to transmit clean energy and more — with 37,000 projects funded and counting already. Since the president took office, over 13 million new jobs have been created, including 800,000 new manufacturing jobs nationwide. More than a half a trillion dollars in outside private investment has been made in manufacturing and clean energy. Currently, spending on construction of manufacturing plants has nearly doubled in the last two years after growing only 2% during the previous four years.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act are spurring investments across the country.
For additional information on this final guidance, click here.
Final Guidance text is available here.
SOURCE: The White House
