Sneak Preview: EPA Aims To Better Track Usage of BABA Waivers
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a new Build America, Buy America (BABA) waiver workflow application that requires all of the agency’s programs to submit and process data on BABA waivers so that the agency can better track their use, in response to a recommendation in a recent EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit report.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58) appropriated about $60.9 billion to EPA from fiscal year (FY) 2022 through FY 2026 for significant investments to advance public health and safety by improving the nation’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure; cleaning up pollution; investing in healthier air; increasing the agency’s workforce; and enhancing the country’s climate resilience. The IIJA includes BABA, which requires the head of each agency to ensure that all funds used in federal financial assistance programs for infrastructure only be obligated for a project if all iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials used in the project are produced in the U.S. (see ¶214 in the Single Audit Information Service Module).
There are two types of BABA waivers: project-specific that apply only to one project, or general applicability that apply to multiple projects. Project-specific waivers are typically initiated by the award recipient, whereas general applicability waivers are initiated by the agency, and any award recipient can use the waiver as long as it meets the waiver guidelines. Waivers should be time-limited, targeted and conditional — meaning that waivers should have short and clearly defined time frames, should not be overly broad, and should stipulate specific conditions that support BABA policies and goals.
EPA’s Office of Mission Support’s (OMS) Office of Resources and Business Operations oversees the agency’s implementation of BABA. OIG conducted an audit from June 2023 to March 2024, assessing all approved EPA BABA waivers on infrastructure projects as of Nov. 23, 2023. Although OIG noted that EPA, as of December 2023, had issued 11 types of BABA waivers (e.g., State Revolving Fund program waiver for design planning, small projects general applicability waiver, Pacific Island Territories general applicability waiver), the agency tracked how recipients were using only one of these types of waivers — the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program waiver for design planning.
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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