New Proposed Regulation Sets Rule for Composites in Federal Projects
Following a reference to “Buy American” rules in the State of the Union, the Biden Administration on February 8 released a new draft regulation on domestic content requirements for comment. The new draft regulation defines composites products as “construction materials.” Under the draft regulation, “all manufacturing processes, from initial combination of constituent materials until the composite materials is in a form in which it is delivered to the work site and incorporated into the project, occurred in the United States.”
The draft regulation also requests public comment in 30 days on a number of questions related to implementation. One question is specific to composites:
Should OMB include “composite building materials” as a sub-category of plastic and polymer-based products or as a stand-alone category? Is further guidance needed on the meaning of the term to distinguish it from “plastic and polymer-based products” in general? If additional guidance is needed, how should “composite building materials” be defined?
Please contact ACMA’s Vice President for Government Relations if this will impact your company’s ability to supply federal projects. ACMA is also requesting information to respond to the question posed by OMB.
Biden Administration Proposes Regulation Against Non-Compete Agreement
In an announcement January 5, the Federal Trade Commission unveiled a proposed regulation preventing the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The administration stated the goal was to remove a growing phenomenon that is impacting the ability of Americans to move jobs and create new businesses. The announcement notes “Evidence shows that noncompete clauses bind about one in five American workers, approximately 30 million people. By preventing workers across the labor force from pursuing better opportunities that offer higher pay or better working conditions, and by preventing employers from hiring qualified workers bound by these contracts, noncompetes hurt workers and harm competition.”
The proposed rule lists non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in employment contracts as an example of noncompete clauses that could be covered by the proposed rule. The National Association of Manufacturers has noted that many U.S. manufacturers use NDAs to protect intellectual property. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted through March 10, 2023. ACMA requests that members potentially impacted by a prohibition on NDAs contact ACMA’s Dan Neumann.