Mon 10/5/2009 5:55 PM

Dear Dr. Kuttan and Dr. Peters:

To respond to your recent inquiries, QSCBs (and other American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) tax credit bond projects) are not subject to the Buy American, NEPA, reporting, and whistle-blower requirements that are authorized in Division A of the Recovery Act. QSCBs and QZABs are authorized in Division B of ARRA and the requirements that you are referencing from Division A do not apply. QSCBs and QZABs are subject to Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements (i.e., subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40). However this is the result of a separate statutory provision (see sec. 1601 of Division B of ARRA) and not the separate Division A provision.

Thank you for your interest in these programs.

Jane Hess
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Education