Understanding Buy America, Buy American & AIS for the Water Industry | WWD Weekly Digest

As Congress debates infrastructure funding and the future of U.S. infrastructure, it is important to understand domestic rules that impact buying and specifying for projects with federal funding from those proposed bills. Three pieces of legislation of focus in this regard are Buy American (1933), Buy America (1982) and the American Iron & Steel Act also known as AIS (2014).

Vanessa Leiby is the executive director of the Water & Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association, who has witnessed these impacts from members of the WWEMA organization. She explains what these rules are and how they differ and also communicates the impact it has on manufacturers. Those impacts then have an indirect impact on the water and wastewater projects throughout the industry, particularly if they are funded through federal resources. 

• Introduction: (0:00)
• What are the American Iron & Steel Act and Buy America: (1:09)
• Buy American language in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021: (6:36)
• The impact of AIS on water and wastewater manufacturers: (8:04)
• The impact of Buy American language expansion for water and wastewater: (12:32)
• The indirect impact of this legislation has on utilities: (16:41)
• What do we know for certain about the Buy American expansion right now?: (19:45)
• How funding relates to Buy America, Buy American and AIS: (23:00)
• Outro: (27:28)

Additional Resources

• Watch last week’s video: https://www.wwdmag.com/videos/advancing-water-equity-la-ulart-wwd-weekly-digest
• Watch the last interview with Vanessa Leiby: https://www.wwdmag.com/videos/water-infrastructure-capitol-hill-wwema-wwd-weekly-digest
• View WWEMA resources on Buy American: https://wwema.org/advocacy/buy-american/
• Read the news about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: https://www.wwdmag.com/one-water/senate-passes-1-trillion-bipartisan-infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act
• View the WWD Weekly Digest playlist: bit.ly/wwdweeklydigest

Sign up for More Water & Wastes Digest Content

• Subscribe to Water & Wastes Digest: https://sgc.dragonforms.com/WWD_new&PK=SMNN2020
• Renew your WWD subscription: https://sgc.dragonforms.com/WWD_renew&PK=SMRE2020
• Sign up to our newsletter: https://www.wwdmag.com/manage-subscription?source=video2020

Connect with WWD on Social Media

• Facebook: fb.com/waterwastesdigest
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/wwdmag
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/waterwastesdigest