FTA Extends Partial Buy America Waiver for Vans and Minivans

FTA has extended the partial Buy America waiver for vans and minivans for five years without change. This extension directly aligns with APTA’s request.

FTA noted that following consideration of comments, and because FTA has been unable to identify any manufacturer of non-Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible vans and minivans that fully complies with Buy America, the agency is “extending its partial, time-limited, general nonavailability waiver from the requirements of Buy America for a period of five years, or upon publication of a recission notice if FTA determines that a fully Buy America-compliant vehicle has become available, whichever occurs first.”

On Sept. 9, APTA filed extensive comments with FTA in support of Buy America and applauded the Administration’s continued efforts to ensure the use of American-made materials in FTA-funded projects. The letter noted: “These Buy America requirements are critical to U.S. job creation, timely project delivery, quality, and building U.S. manufacturing capacity. Although we share these Buy America goals, APTA strongly urges FTA to extend the 2022 Partial Buy America Waiver for vans and minivans that expires on October 24, 2024, because Buy America-compliant vehicles are not available in the United States. We urge FTA to extend the partial, time-limited, general nonavailability Buy America waiver for five years without change. In 2022, vanpools provided almost 20 million passenger trips on 763 million passenger miles of service. Without a waiver of FTA’s Buy America requirements, public transit agencies may not be able to offer these crucial vanpool services. For more than 15 years, transit agencies have been unable to acquire Buy America-compliant, unmodified non-ADA accessible vans and minivans.”

APTA also joined an Aug. 14 coalition letter, including Commute with Enterprise, the Community Transportation Association of America, and the Association for Commuter Transportation, in support of extending the partial Buy America waiver.