Funds made available from a State water pollution control revolving fund established under this subchapter may not be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of treatment works unless all of the iron and steel products used in the project are produced in the United States.

In this section, the term “iron and steel products” means the following products made primarily of iron or steel: lined or unlined pipes and fittings, manhole covers and other municipal castings, hydrants, tanks, flanges, pipe clamps and restraints, valves, structural steel, reinforced precast concrete, construction materials.

Subsection (a) shall not apply in any case or category of cases in which the Administrator finds that—

(1) applying subsection (a) would be inconsistent with the public interest;

(2) iron and steel products are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or

(3) inclusion of iron and steel products produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25 percent.

If the Administrator receives a request for a waiver under this section, the Administrator shall make available to the public, on an informal basis, a copy of the request and information available to the Administrator concerning the request, and shall allow for informal public input on the request for at least 15 days prior to making a finding based on the request. The Administrator shall make the request and accompanying information available by electronic means, including on the official public Internet site of the Environmental Protection Agency.

This section shall be applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements.

The Administrator may retain up to 0.25 percent of the funds appropriated for this subchapter for management and oversight of the requirements of this section.

This section does not apply with respect to a project if a State agency approves the engineering plans and specifications for the project, in that agency’s capacity to approve such plans and specifications prior to a project requesting bids, prior to June 10, 2014.

(June 30, 1948, ch. 758, title VI, § 608, as added Pub. L. 113–121, title V, § 5004, June 10, 2014, 128 Stat. 1326.)