American Iron and Steel Requirements for Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (Public 113-76) was signed into law on January 17, 2014. The act contains an American Iron and Steel (AIS) provision in Section 436 requiring all Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) recipients to use iron and steel products produced in the United States for all projects receiving assistance through Federal Fiscal Year 2014.

On March 20, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a guidance document to help ensure Section 436 is applied in a manner consistent with congressional intent. The document provided detailed information related to items produced in the United States, including various definitions and criteria necessary to determine compliance with AIS. This document was adequate for most products typically furnished on utility projects; however, valves and fire hydrants are unique in that they contain miscellaneous incidental components, including clips, pins, washers, nuts, bolts and manual or electric actuators that are of unknown origin or that are not readily available from U.S. sources. To this point, the EPA issued additional clarification on May 30, 2014, in a Q&A document, which includes the following statement: For compliance with the 2014 AIS requirements, “the EPA considers only the significant iron and steel components of a covered valve or hydrant – the body, bonnet, shoe, stem, and wedge/disc/gate/ball – to be within the definition of ‘iron and steel products that must be made domestically, or otherwise must comply with the AIS requirement.’”

As a leader in the industry, AMERICAN Flow Control worked with the EPA in development of this clarification. The document may be found on the EPA website referenced as Questions and Answers Part 1: Valves and Hydrants PDF.

AMERICAN Flow Control is one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of valves and hydrants in the waterworks industry. For that reason, AMERICAN supports the inclusion of the AIS requirements in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, as well as other legislative efforts such as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority (WIFIA) pilot program, which is part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. Should you have any questions, please contact your local AMERICAN Flow Control representative, or request more information by going to the Contact Us section of this website.