FTA issues guidance on Buy America's 'small purchase' waiver

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has issued a guidance letter on changes in the Buy America regulation's "small purchases" for general public interest waivers.

The letter addresses changes in the Buy America program that were approved last year as part of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which Congress passed last year.

The FAST Act set the small purchase waiver at $150,000 or less; that threshold will not increase with future adjustments to the simplified acquisition threshold under federal regulation, according to an FTA press release.

FTA's Buy America law requires that the steel, iron and manufactured products used in FTA-funded transit projects must be produced in the United States. In 1995, FTA issued a general public interest waiver to exempt from Buy America requirements purchases of $100,000 or less.