The U.S. EPA is seeking information to better understand the current domestic supply of products used in drinking water, wastewater and stormwater projects, and agricultural treatment and delivery systems.
To that end, the agency announced a Request for Information (RFI) regarding products used in water infrastructure projects that receive federal financial assistance and are subject to the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) requirements.
EPA is seeking the information in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) Made in America Office and other federal agencies.
EPA and other federal agencies that fund water infrastructure projects, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of the Interior, are interested in information detailing domestic materials sourcing, market readiness, product supply considerations, and whether specific products used in water infrastructure projects or their components are, or can be, manufactured in the United States. Information collected as part of this RFI will be shared between the listed federal agencies.
Using information collected from this RFI, EPA said that it will support efforts to catalyze domestic manufacturing and jobs and support resilient supply chains to successfully deliver a wide range of urgently needed water infrastructure products and projects.
Upcoming webinar
EPA will be hosting a public webinar to provide an overview of the notice on November 21, 2023 at 1 p.m. ET.
Additionally, EPA will be taking comments on the notice for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Comments will be available for submission at https://www.regulations.gov: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2023-0396. A pre-publication version of the RFI is available for review here.
