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The Federal Transit Administration today published a Federal Register Notice announcing a two-year waiver of the Buy America domestic content requirement for certain commercially produced vans and minivans used in public transportation, due to the unavailability of compliant vehicles. This waiver covers mass-produced, unmodified non-ADA accessible passenger vans and minivans. Final assembly of these vehicles must occur in the United States, and to maximize domestic content, the waiver requires that the engines or motors must be manufactured in the United States.
FTA’s Buy America statute requires that rolling stock, including vans and minivans, must have more than 70-percent domestic content and that final assembly must occur in the U.S. FTA grant recipients typically use standard commercial model vans and minivans to operate vanpools and other public transportation services for passengers who do not require an ADA-accessible vehicle.
FTA concluded there are no mass-produced, unmodified, non-ADA accessible passenger vans or minivans that meet the Federal transit law domestic content requirement. As a result, FTA is issuing this temporary waiver for a term of two years, or upon publication of a rescission notice, if FTA determines that a fully Buy America-compliant vehicle has become available, whichever occurs first.
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