Get ready for enactment of the new Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) guidelines by attending ATSSA’s free virtual Town Hall on Sept. 7.

Speakers will address questions on the recently released guidance for the Build America, Buy America Act (BABA).

The virtual Town Hall panel will include ATSSA Director of Federal Government Relations Cameron Greene and Kathy Ruffalo, president of Ruffalo & Associates, a Washington-based advocacy and consulting firm. Ruffalo has significant transportation and infrastructure experience at both the federal and state levels.

Registration is now open.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Wednesday published the final guideline for the Build America, Buy America Act, starting a 60-day countdown to its enactment.

Included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), this expansion of the Buy America program led to the inclusion of a number of materials and products used and manufactured by ATSSA members.

ATSSA’s Government Relations Team provides a summary of the most important sections of the 162-page guidance and will continue to update ATSSA members as more information becomes available. ATSSA also will be holding a virtual town hall on this topic on Sept. 7.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the final guidance related to the Build America, Buy America Act provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). 

This final guidance includes comparisons to the initial guidance from OMB from April of 2022 and responses to comments submitted to the OMB Request for Information from earlier this year. The IIJA expanded current Buy America requirements for infrastructure projects, including the addition of construction materials as a covered category.  

The final OMB guidance directly responds to specific concerns raised by ATSSA.

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee today released its draft reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The bipartisan Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act would reauthorize the FAA aviation infrastructure and safety programs for the next five fiscal years, with a total investment of around $103 billion over the lifespan of the bill.

At ATSSA’s Annual Convention & Traffic Expo in February, the Government Relations Committee approved a policy allowing for the Association to get engaged with this reauthorization, with a specific focus on increased investment on airfield and curbside infrastructure. The bill released earlier today would provide $20 billion in grant funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). The AIP is the main grant program responsible for funding airfield and access road focused infrastructure safety projects. The full list of AIP eligible projects is available online.

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner today sent a letter to Federal Highway Administration Administrator Shailen P. Bhatt urging the FHWA to publish the updated Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) by the deadline set forth in the U.S. Code.

“On behalf of the American Traffic Safety Services Association’s (ATSSA) 1,500 member companies, I write to urge the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to publish the 11th edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) by the May 15th deadline required under Section 109(d)(2) of title 23, United States Code,” Tetschner wrote in today’s letter.