BABA Waiver Request Form

OMB Control Number 1840-XXXX; Expiration 2/28/2023

Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA) Domestic Sourcing Requirements Waiver

United States Department of Education BABAA Waiver Request Form

Directions: This form is to be completed only when the grantee believes it can adequately demonstrate to the U.S. Department of Education (Department), informed by public input, that a waiver of the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements is reasonable and necessary. To submit this waiver request, email the signed request to the Education Program Contact identified in box 3 of your Grant Award Notification (GAN).

Before Applying for a Waiver:

• BABAA Grant Program: Is the grant program you are applying for a waiver subject to the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements? (please see the list here ED Infrastructure Programs) If the grant program is not on this list, your grant is not subject to the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements and you do not need to complete this form.

• De Minimis, Small Grants, or Small Components Waivers: Is the project entitled to a De Minimis, Small Grant, or Small Components waiver established by the Department? (please see these waivers here Build America Buy America Waivers). If so, you do not need to complete this form.

• Infrastructure Product Definitions: Are you aware of the items considered to be a “manufactured” or “construction” product? (please see the list of those items and their definitions in M 22-11, Office of Management and Budget Memorandum Initial Implementation Guidance on Application of Buy America Preference in Federal Financial Assistance Programs for Infrastructure).

• More Help: For more information, please see the Department’s Build America Buy America Waivers website.

Section 1: Grantee Information: Please provide the following grant information and a contact person who can answer questions regarding your BABAA domestic sourcing requirements waiver request:

Entity Name: Entity UEI: Grant Program Name: Grant Program Assistance Listing Number (ALN): Grant PR/Award Number (if applicable): Total Grant Award Amount:

Waiver Request Contact Person Name: Waiver Request Contact Person Title: Waiver Request Contact Person Email: Waiver Request Contact Person Phone: Total Cost of Infrastructure Project(s): Amount of Costs Supported by this Grant:

Section 2: Brief Description of infrastructure Project(s): In 2-3 sentences, please provide a brief description and location of the infrastructure project(s):

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 3: Other Federal Sources Identification: Will the project(s) covered under this waiver be funded by any other Federal financial assistance?

☐ No ☐ Yes

If yes, please identify the sources of other Federal financial assistance by program name and ALN Number below:

_____________________________________________________________________________

Section 4: Type of Waiver Requested: Please check only one of the following boxes.

We request a waiver of the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements because:

☐Public Interest Waiver: Applying the domestic content procurement preference would be inconsistent with the public interest (a “public interest waiver”).

☐Nonavailability Waiver: Types of iron, steel, manufactured products, or construction materials are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or of a satisfactory quality (a “nonavailability waiver”).

☐Unreasonable Cost Waiver: The inclusion of iron, steel, manufactured products, or construction materials produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent (an “unreasonable cost waiver”).

Section 5: Waiver Scope: As applicable, please provide the scope of the proposed waiver:

☐We request the waiver to apply to all (100%) of the iron, steel, manufactured products, and/or construction materials to be used in the project(s).

OR

☐We are requesting only certain identified items be granted a waiver from the domestic sourcing requirements (please check all that apply and identify all products by name and PSC or NAICS codes below; if more space is needed, please provide under Section 8, Waiver Supporting Documentation, below):

☐ Iron

Iron Product	Country of Origin	PSC1 or NAICS2 Code

☐ Steel

Steel Product	Country of Origin	PSC or NAICS Code

☐Manufactured Products

Manufactured Product	Country of Origin	PSC or NAICS Code

☐Construction Materials

Construction Material	Country of Origin	PSC or NAICS Code

Section 6: Waiver Timeline: Please provide a length of time you are requesting the waiver of the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements:

☐For the entire period of performance of the grant in which the infrastructure project(s) will occur.

OR

☐For a limited time during the period of performance of the grant. We request a waiver of the identified BABAA domestic sourcing requirements from [XX/XX/XXXX] only until [XX/XX/XXXX] date.

Section 7: Wavier Justification Narrative: Please provide a justification for the waiver requested above, including any anticipated impact if the waiver request is disapproved.

In order to help the Department in making a determination, please include the following information based on the type of the waiver requested in Section 4:

• Public Interest Waiver: Describe why your specific circumstances may be in the public interest to grant a waiver from the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements.

• Nonavailability Waiver: Describe why identified domestic iron, steel, manufactured products, or construction products are unavailable, and the steps you have taken to determine their unavailability.

• Unreasonable Cost Waiver: Describe how you have determined that the cost of domestic iron, steel, manufactured and construction products will increase the cost of the overall project(s) by more than 25 percent and the market research and/or industry outreach you have performed to make this determination.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 8: Waiver Supporting Documentation: Please provide supporting documentation as a separate file accompanying this form. Supporting documentation could include such information as price quotes, market research, industry outreach, or public interest supporting documentation.

All documents must be in PDF; when including multiple documents, please provide a Table of Contents and brief explanations as to each document to support the Department’s expedient review of your request.

Section 9: Attestation

To the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that all information and representations in this waiver request form and all supporting documentation is true and correct, and the entity on behalf of which I make this attestation will remain in compliance with the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements modified by, if granted, the terms and conditions provided by the Department through granting a waiver of the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements.

I further acknowledge that failure to submit true and correct information, failure to follow the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements or the conditions provided under any waiver of those requirements, or failure to remain in compliance with the terms and conditions of this grant may result in liability under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq.; OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) in 2 C.F.R. part 180, as adopted and amended as regulations of the Department in 2 C.F.R. part 3485; and 18 U.S.C. § 1001, as appropriate, and/or other enforcement actions.

Name: ________________________________________________

Signature: ________________________________________________

Date: [XX/XX/XXXX]

Paperwork Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number.  The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1894-New.  Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.  The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit (with section 70914 of the Build America Buy America Act (Pub. L. No. 117-58 §§ 70901-70953)).  If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate, suggestions for improving this individual collection, or if you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual form, application or survey, please contact your assigned program officer directly.

Submission of Proprietary Information

FOIA exempts from mandatory disclosure any “trade secrets or commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.” 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) (Exemption 4). In accordance with Exemption 4, the Department will maintain as confidential any documents submitted by you, or prepared by the applicant or grantee, that are both customarily and actually treated as private by the applicant or grantee, or closely held and not publicly disseminated. If you feel that some or all of this submission falls within the scope of Exemption 4 and is entitled to confidential treatment, you must indicate the specific information the applicant or grantee considers proprietary in a cover attachment to this form. Please note that your designations of exempt material are not binding on the Department.

Public Posting of Waiver Request Information

The BABAA domestic sourcing requirements waiver authority generally requires the Department to post this waiver information for a period of public comment and review. The Department will not publicly post information considered to be personally identifiable information (PII), including signatures and specific contact information such as an email address and phone number. However, all other information contained in this form, along with any supporting documentation, may be publicly posted so that the public has adequate information to comment on your requested wavier of the BABAA domestic sourcing requirements. If you feel that some of the information contained in this waiver request is “proprietary information” and do not want this information disclosed, please follow the instructions in “Submission of Prorprietary Information”, below. Please note that your designations of exempt material are not binding on the Department.

1 PSC codes describe products, services, and research and development purchased by the Federal government. PSC codes can be found in the Product Service Code sections of the Product and Service Code Manual on Acquisition.GOV at Product and Service Code Manual | Acquisition.GOV.

2 The NAICS codes are used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. NAICS codes classify businesses based on the particular product or service supplied. A business will generally have a primary NAICS code, but it can also have multiple NAICS codes if it sells multiple products and services. NAICS codes can be found by conducting a keyword search in the NAICS search fields at  U.S. Census Bureau or by accessing the NAICS code lists under the Reference File tab on U.S. Census Bureau.

Department of Education BABAA Waiver Request Form – Page 1 of 4