Aid_Content Page_American iron and steel

American iron and steel

American Iron and Steel (AIS) is a permanent requirement for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). Projects financed in part or whole by the Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP) or Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP) are required to follow the AIS or Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements. If you are unsure which applies, contact the DNR to confirm. Visit EPA's SRF AIS Requirement website.

This two-page AIS compliance cheat sheet contains key AIS concepts and points.

AIS requirements for CW & DW SRFs webinar

AIS implementation requirements webinar

Iron and steel products

The term "iron and steel products" means the following products made primarily of iron or steel:

  • construction materials;
  • flanges;
  • hydrants;
  • lined or unlined pipes and fittings;
  • manhole covers and other municipal castings;
  • pipe clamps and restraints;
  • reinforced precast concrete;
  • structural steel;
  • tanks; and
  • valves.

Documenting compliance

To document compliance with AIS requirements, specific language should be included in each contract, starting with purchase agreements for the iron and steel components and continuing all the way up through the Financial Assistance Agreement (FAA). It is important that AIS language is included in any request for proposals or solicitations for bids.

Certification letters for the American Iron and Steel requirement should be:

  • obtained from the product vendor/handler of the iron and steel; and
  • submitted for inclusion in the project documentation for the CWFP and SDWLP.

We request that certification letter documentation be organized using tab cover sheets to separate the certification letters - based upon where an item/product is found in the project (specification) manual. The tab cover sheets should be labeled with the a tab number, the specification section number, and description.

Letters of certification for AIS compliance

To document the use of AIS, engineers/contractors/funding recipients should follow the information provided in the sample certification letters found in Appendix 5 of the U.S. EPA memo dated 3/20/2014.

A step certification process similar to what is used by the Federal Highway Administration is recommended. Step certification ensures that producers adhere to AIS requirements and allows assistance recipients to verify that compliance. Under a step certification process, each handler of the iron and steel (supplier, fabricator, manufacturer, processer, etc.) certifies that their step in the process was performed in the United States. These certifications should be collected and maintained by the assistance recipient.

Each certification should include the following:

  • project name, project number (####-##), or both;
  • certification statement;
  • the name of the manufacturer;
  • the location of the manufacturing facility (not its headquarters);
  • a description of the item, products, and/or materials; and
  • a signature from a responsible party representing the manufacturer.

Mill certifications may also be acceptable as AIS certification if all the information shown in the sample certification letters is provided.

Contract specifications and engineer's product submittal/review/approval process

For the items, products, and/or materials requiring compliance with AIS, the Environmental Loans section recommends that contract specifications ("Product Submittal Requirements" or other similarly-named specification section) be written to notify the contractor of the requirement for AIS certification letter documentation. This could be managed by incorporating the certification letter requirement as a part of the engineer's shop drawing/product review/comment/approval process.

As an example, a shop drawing review or product submittal comment by the engineer may include, "Provide AIS certification for this item."

Include specific AIS language in…

To document the use of AIS, engineers/contractors/funding recipients should follow the information provided in the sample construction contract language found in Appendix 4 of the U.S. EPA memo dated 3/20/2014.

Engineers/contractors/funding recipients should include specific AIS language and requirements for each handler of the iron and steel (bidders, suppliers, product vendors, fabricators, manufacturers, processors, producers, etc.) in such as the following:

  • advertisements;
  • contracts and subcontracts;
  • engineer's product approval process;
  • prequalification requirements;
  • purchase agreements for iron and steel components;
  • request for proposals;
  • solicitations for bids; and
  • specifications ("Product Submittal Requirements" or other similarly-named specification section).

Specific AIS language should be included in construction contracts. Assistance recipients will be required to certify that the successful bidders have certified their understanding of and compliance with the AIS requirements. Assistance recipients will also complete an additional certification of compliance with the AIS requirements at project closeout after construction is completed.

Sample construction contract language and sample certifications can be found in the appendices of EPA's AIS Guidance and Questions & Answers.

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Certification form

Projects financed in part or whole by the CWFP/SDWLP are required to follow the AIS or Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements. If you are unsure which applies, contact the DNR to confirm. The certification form for AIS and BABA requirements is a mandatory form for all projects and should be completed after a project has been bid. The form must be completed even if it is determined that your project is exempt from the AIS or BABA requirements.

If you have trouble opening the form, read the DNR Site Requirements and PDF Help for assistance.

Note: The AIS/BABA Certification form covers both the CWFP and SDWLP. It replaces the program-specific AIS Certification forms (CWFP Form 8700-361 and SDWLP Form 8700-356). Those forms should no longer be used; use Form 8700-020 instead.

Waivers

The legislation permits EPA to issue waivers for a case or category of cases where EPA finds:

  1. that applying these requirements would be inconsistent with the public interest;
  2. iron and steel products are not produced in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or
  3. inclusion of iron and steel products produced in the U.S. will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25%.

Approved waivers; waiver requests received by EPA; draft waivers; and denied waivers can be found on EPA's SRF AIS Requirement web page.

Page 12 of EPA's AIS Guidance and Questions & Answers goes into detail about the EPA's waiver process.

Requesting waivers

If you have a project which you believe would qualify for a waiver, you must submit your waiver request through the State SRF program (Wisconsin DNR Environmental Loans Section) where it will be reviewed for completeness before being forwarded on to EPA. A checklist of required documentation applicable to each type of waiver request is included as Appendix 1 of the EPA guidance document which can be found at the link given above.

Once you have compiled the appropriate documentation for your request you should email it to your regional DNR construction management engineer (CME). Please be sure to include contact information in case we have any questions. The request will be reviewed for completeness and then forwarded on to EPA.

EPA Headquarters will publish the request on their website for 15 days to give the public the opportunity to review the request and provide informal comments. If the waiver request is approved, EPA will notify the State SRF program and post the approved waiver on EPA's SRF AIS Requirement web page.

Nationwide De Minimis Waiver

On April 15, 2014, EPA issued a nationwide public interest waiver for de minimis incidental components. This waiver permits the use of noncompliant incidental components for projects subject to the AIS requirements as long as the de minimis components cumulatively compromise no more than a total of 5% of the total cost of materials used in and incorporated into the project and no individual item exceeds 1%.

Examples of incidental components include: small washers; screws; fasteners (i.e., nuts and bolts); miscellaneous wire; corner bead; ancillary tube; etc.

Examples of items which are not incidental include: significant process fittings (i.e., tees, elbows, flanges, and brackets); distribution system fittings and valves; force main valves; pipes for sewer collection and/or water distribution; treatment and storage tanks; large structural supports; etc.

Recipients who wish to utilize the de minimis waiver must retain relevant documentation (i.e., invoices) in their project files for all materials used in and incorporated into the project. Documentation demonstrating compliance with the 5% and 1% thresholds must be submitted as part of the project closeout process once construction is completed.

This documentation must show the total cost of all materials used in and incorporated into the project as well as demonstrate that the total of the de minimis components does not exceed 5% of the total materials cost and that no individual item exceeds 1%.

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Contact information
Direct AIS questions to your regional DNR construction management engineer (CME)

Note: The Wisconsin DNR Environmental Loans Program called it Use of American Iron and Steel (UAIS) to limit confusion with the department's acronym for Aquatic Invasive Species.