AASHTO Journal - AASHTO Responds to FTA ‘Buy America’ Waiver Review

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently responded to the Federal Transit Administration regarding a partial waiver of “Buy America” requirements for vans and minivans.

[Above photo by FTA]

AASHTO noted in a comment letter to the agency that FTA issued the existing partial waiver in October 2022 in recognition that the U.S. manufacturing market could not fully meet the demands of its “Buy America” statute for non-Americans with Disabilities Act accessible vans or minivans.

The waiver is currently set to expire after October 24 at the end of its planned period, with FTA not having found that the market could support the waiver’s rescission over the past two years.

At the heart of the issue is an ongoing shortage of small buses that continues to threaten the ongoing operations of rural, small-city, paratransit and nonemergency medical transportation providers across the nation; a situation AASHTO originally addressed, in conjunction with the Community Transportation Association of America and the American Public Transportation Association, in a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in October 2022.

“There remains a shortage of skilled labor and disrupted growth in the manufacturing market for vans and minivans following the impacts of the pandemic, supply chain challenges, and rising costs across the market,” the organization added. “FTA has also noted that, to date, it has received no new information suggesting that the market has sufficiently changed. The continuing insufficient availability of unmodified vans and minivans that fully comply with ‘Buy America’ requirements demonstrates that the partial waiver remains important and necessary to avoid a disruption to van and minivan procurement, and, relatedly, avoid disrupting program delivery.”

AASHTO highlighted that modifications to the waiver “risk hindering state DOT ability” to procure vans and minivans in a timely manner, especially given that the current waiver has nearly expired and an extension is critical.

“AASHTO recommends a five-year extension of the waiver in order to allow a more reasonable period of time for the manufacturing market, supply chain, and economy to grow and stabilize, with the understanding that FTA may rescind the waiver upon determining that a fully ‘Buy America’-compliant vehicle has become suitably available,” the organization said.