The document available at the link below is the compliance certification letter that the Viance treated wood products listed below meet the requirements of the Buy America Act and the Buy American Act that are manufactured in the United States with American sourced timber.
- UltraPole® NXT treated poles for infrastructure and industrial use (utility and communications)
- UltraArmTM NXT treated crossarms for infrastructure (utility and communications)
- Ecolife® treated wood for agricultural use
- Lowe's® Severe Weather® Ecolife treated wood for agricultural use
- D-Blaze® fire retardant treated wood and plywood for interior use
- Preserve® CA-C - Copper Azole Type C for commercial and agricultural use
- SupaTimber® CCA - Chromated Copper Arsenate for industrial and commercial applications
- TimberSaver® borate treated wood for protection against Formosan and other termite species and fungal decay in interior wood framing
BUY AMERICA ACT
Director Shalana Young, from the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, issued a memorandum M-22-11 on April 18, 2022, titled “Initial implementation on Guidance of Application of Buy America preference in Federal Financial Assistance Programs for Infrastructure.
Buy America requirements apply to purchases of iron, steel, lumber, drywall, and other manufactured products permanently incorporated into infrastructure projects. This means all manufacturing processes for the construction material occurred in the United States.
In the memorandum, Director Young defines infrastructure as a project that includes, at a minimum, the structures, facilities, and equipment for, in the United States, roads, highways, and bridges; public transportation; dams, ports, harbors, and other maritime facilities; intercity passenger and freight railroads; freight and intermodal facilities; airports; water systems, including drinking water and wastewater systems; electrical transmission facilities and systems; utilities; broadband infrastructure; and buildings and real property. Agencies should treat structures, facilities, and equipment that generate, transport, and distribute energy -including electric vehicle (EV) charging -as infrastructure.”
The cost of the components of the manufactured product that are mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States is greater than 55 percent of the total cost of all components of the manufactured product, unless another standard for determining the minimum amount of domestic content of the manufactured product has been established under applicable law or regulation.
BUY AMERICAN ACT
The Buy American Act applies to all U.S. federal government agency purchases of goods over $10,000 and under the Trade Agreement Act threshold (generally $182,000 for supply contracts and $7,008,000 for construction contracts). When purchased by federal entities for public use, the Act requires that these goods be produced in the U.S. and at least 50 percent of the cost of their components must come from the U.S.
The same infrastructure uses as defined in the Buy America Act also pertain to the Buy American Act.
Highlights from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, (U.S. GAO) state, “Two conditions must be present for the Buy American Act to apply:
(1) the procurement must be intended for public use within the United States; and
(2) the items to be procured or the materials from which they are manufactured must be present in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities of a satisfactory quality.
The provisions of the act may be waived if the head of the procuring agency determines the act to be inconsistent with the public interest or the cost of acquiring the domestic product is unreasonable. Contracts awarded by State and local authorities under Federal grant programs are not covered by the act unless authorizing statutes explicitly provide for application of the act.
References
https://www.gao.gov/products/105519
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2016/07/f33/buy_american_desk_guide.pdf
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/14/2020-20116/federal-acquisition-regulation-maximizing-use-of-american-made-goods-products-and-materials https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/sell2usgov-vendreaugouvusa/procurement-marches/buyamerica.aspx?lang=eng
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title41/subtitle4/chapter83&edition=prelim