Buy America Requirements for Federally Funded Airports (2013)

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63 Appendix A: Buy America Questionnaire NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM (ACRP) PROJECT 11-01, STUDY TOPIC 04-04: BUY AMERICA REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERALLY FUNDED AIRPORTS The Transportation Research Board has retained a consultant to perform a study with the goal of producing an easy-to-use guide that addresses all of the Buy America requirements applicable to federally funded airport projects, with an emphasis on the specific requirements associated with the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The purpose of this survey is to elicit information from grant recipients to develop an industry- wide perspective on the impact of Buy America on federal airport grants, with the goal of identifying areas where the streamlining of the federal statutory and regulatory requirements could be accom- plished without jeopardizing the public policy goals of Buy America. Please have this survey completed by the individual in your organization who is primarily respon- sible for Buy America matters. Contact information to return completed surveys is at the end of the document. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this survey. I. IDENTIFICATION a. Please provide the name and address of your airport. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ b. Please provide the name, telephone number, and email address of an appropriate contact person who is primarily responsible for Buy America matters for your airport. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ II. GENERAL IMPACT OF BUY AMERICA a. Please describe the impact, if any, of Buy America requirements on procurement of equip- ment at your airport, making reference to specific procurements or specific procurement items if nec- essary. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ b. Please describe the impact, if any, of Buy America requirements on construction contracting at your airport, making reference to specific construction projects or specific types of facilities if nec- essary. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________

64 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________ c. What, if any, project delays and additional project costs would you attribute directly to Buy America Compliance? Please explain the basis for your belief that Buy America requirements con- tributed directly to delays or project costs. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ d. Please estimate your airport’s cost of compliance with Buy America. Please explain the basis for your estimate of the cost of compliance with Buy America requirements. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ III. WAIVERS OF BUY AMERICA REQUIREMENTS a. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever taken advantage of the nationwide Buy Amer- ica waivers published by the FAA? [The complete list of items is available at http://1.usa.gov/FAAwaivers] If so, please describe which equipment items on that list have been procured for your airport using AIP or ARRA funds. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ b. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever taken advantage of the nationwide “nonavail- able” Buy America waivers published in the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 25.104? [The complete list of items is available at http://1.usa.gov/BAAwaivers] If so, please describe which articles on that list have been procured for your airport using AIP or ARRA funds. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ c. Has your airport or one of its contractors or suppliers ever requested a Buy America waiver based on 60% domestic content? If so, please describe the request and the FAA response. [Feel free to enclose copies of any waiver requests submitted to the FAA and the FAA’s communications in re- sponse.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________

65 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ d. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever prepared a Component Cost Calculation to demonstrate that 60% of the cost of a facility or manufactured item is attributable to U.S. content? If so, please describe the type of facility or manufactured item for which you prepared the calculation, and describe significant components or subcomponents that were of foreign origin. [Feel free to en- close copies of the component cost calculations prepared.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ e. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever sought an FAA interpretation regarding the calculation of component costs? If so, describe the request and the FAA response. [Feel free to enclose copies of the communications.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ f. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever sought an FAA interpretation regarding whether an item is a component or subcomponent? If so, describe the request and the FAA response. [Feel free to enclose copies of the communications.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ g. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever requested a Buy America waiver based on the expectation that U.S. content would increase the project cost by 25%? If so, please describe the re- quest and the FAA response. [Feel free to enclose copies of waiver requests submitted to the FAA and the FAA’s communications in response.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________

66 IV. BUY AMERICA DISPUTES a. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever been challenged by an unsuccessful bidder or supplier on the basis of Buy America compliance? If so, please describe the protest and its outcome, if any. [Feel free to enclose copies of any communications from the protestor and any communications in response.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ b. Has your airport or one of its contractors ever been the subject of an FAA investigation into Buy America compliance for activities at your airport funded by AIP or ARRA? If so, please describe the investigation and its outcome. [Feel free to enclose copies of any communications with the FAA regarding the investigation.] __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ c. Are there any Buy America questions or issues that you feel are not fully addressed by exist- ing FAA guidance? If so, please list those questions or issues. __________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Please mail, email, or fax completed surveys no later than 20 September 2011 to the attention of: Timothy R. Wyatt Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC P.O. Box 20744 Greensboro, NC 27420 Fax: (336) 691-9259 Email: twyatt@cgspllc.com If you would prefer to receive this survey by email as an electronic fill-in document, please request an electronic copy from Mr. Wyatt at twyatt@cgspllc.com.

67 To the extent that you may have in your possession written responses from the FAA or other information or correspondence with regard to any of the matters discussed above, please send those materials to Mr. Wyatt using the contact information above. If you have any confidentiality requests or concerns regarding the information or correspondence, please direct your requests to Mr. Wyatt. Again, thank you very much for your responses to this survey.