Sec. 5. Waiver transparency and streamlining through the establishment of BuyAmerican.gov website
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall establish an internet website with the address BuyAmerican.gov that will be publicly available and free to access. The website shall include information on all waivers of and exceptions to Buy American laws that have been requested, are under consideration, or have been granted by executive agencies and be designed to enable manufacturers and other interested parties to easily identify waivers, and shall provide publicly available contact information for the contracting agencies.
The President, in consultation with the heads of relevant agencies, shall develop a mechanism to collect information on requests to waive Buy American laws and other domestic content restrictions, utilizing existing reporting requirements whenever possible, for purposes of providing early notice to possible waivers via the website established under subsection (a). The heads of executive agencies shall report to the Administrator as quickly as possible waivers requested or under consideration and waivers granted due to the non-availability of procured items or service providers for purposes of posting such information on the website established under such subsection.
Not less than 20 days prior to waiving, under his or her statutory authority, any applicable Buy American Law, the head of an executive agency shall submit to the Administrator of General Services a copy of the request and information available to the executive agency concerning the request. Not later than 5 days after receiving this information from the head of an executive agency, the Administrator of General Services shall make available to the public, by posting on the website established under subsection (a), a copy of the request and information available to the executive agency concerning the request, and shall allow for informal public comment on the request for at least 15 days prior to making a finding based on the request.
No requested waiver of an applicable Buy American Law may be granted if, in contravention of subsection (c)— the request was not made available to the public; the information available to the executive agency concerning the request was not made available to the public; or no opportunity for public comment concerning the request was granted. Information made available to the public under this section concerning the request shall properly and adequately document and justify the statutory basis cited for the requested waiver.
Such information shall include— a detailed justification for the use of goods, products, or materials mined, produced, or manufactured outside the United States; for requests citing unreasonable cost as the statutory basis of the waiver, a comparison of the cost of the domestic product to the cost of the foreign product or a comparison of the overall cost of the project with domestic products to the overall cost of the project with foreign-origin products or services, pursuant to the requirements of the applicable Buy American law, except that publicly available cost comparison data may be provided in lieu of proprietary pricing information; for requests citing availability, quantity, or quality as the statutory basis for the waiver, information from a reasonable number of domestic suppliers concerning a product’s availability, quantity, or quality, documentation of the procurement official’s or assistance recipient’s efforts to procure from domestic sources and relevant excerpts from project plans, specifications, and permits indicating the required quantity and quality of the relevant products; for requests citing the public interest as the statutory basis for the waiver, a detailed written statement, which shall include all appropriate factors, justifying why the requested waiver is in public interest; and a certification that the procurement official or assistance recipient made a good faith effort to solicit bids for domestic products supported by terms included in requests for proposals, contracts, and communications with the prime contractor.
Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report describing the implementation of this section, including recommendations for any legislation to improve the collection and reporting of information regarding waivers of and exceptions to Buy American laws. In this section: The term Buy American Law means any law, regulation, Executive order, regulation, or rule relating to Federal contracts or grants that requires or provides a preference for the purchase or use of goods, products, or materials mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States, including— chapter 83 of title 41, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Buy American Act ); section 5323(j) of title 49, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Buy America Act ); section 2533a of title 10, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Berry Amendment ); section 2533b of title 10, United States Code; and section 604 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ( 6 U.S.C. 453b ).
The term executive agency has the meaning given the term in section 133 of title 41, United States Code.
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Sec. 5
Waiver transparency and streamlining through the establishment of BuyAmerican.gov website
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