Long-term, broad-based investment in infrastructure repair and modernization—as well as regulatory flexibility and efficiency—is absolutely essential to maintaining our nation’s backbone and the industries that support it.
The Issue
A robust infrastructure is a pillar of our nation’s vitality. Roads, rails, bridges, the aviation system, and our waterways are falling into disrepair.
Protective coatings are essential to extending the life of bridges, highways, water infrastructure, and public buildings—often by decades.
The Impact
Onerous and duplicative permitting requirements delay construction activities and derail entire infrastructure projectsdeferring the very work that coatings are needed to protect and complete.
Unfortunately, since many critical raw materials must be sourced outside the United States, coatings manufacturers face significant barriers in certifying to domestic content standards. For example:
- Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act requirements do not apply consistently to coatings products across federal programs, creating confusion, delays, and unequal competitive conditions for manufacturers.
- Without explicit designation of paints and coatings as “construction materials” under BABA, manufacturers face uncertainty about compliance obligations on federally funded projects.
Our Ask
- Streamline the permitting process to unlock infrastructure investment
- Long-term reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation programs and funding
- Designate paints and coatings as “construction materials” under BABA
- Establish a uniform domestic content standard that reflects coatings manufacturing realities