Following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech on Feb. 7, the White House Office of Management and Budget released proposed guidance to boost the use of American-made goods in infrastructure projects, including airports, Coast Guard housing, renovations to federal buildings and other structures funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This new OMB guidance sets standards to carry out the statutory requirement that all manufacturing processes for construction materials occur in the United States. Of particular importance to SWACCA, this includes domestic manufacturing process standards for each construction material referenced in the BIL, including drywall, lumber, plastic and polymer-based products, and glass.

As part of the proposed guidance, OMB is seeking comments on several topics, including whether to include additional construction materials, including bricks and engineered wood products and paint and stain, in the BIL’s Build America, Buy America requirements.