South Carolina S 687: A SENATE RESOLUTION TO COMMEND AND CONGRATULATE CRAYTON MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT CHAPMAN SOJOURNER LEE OF RICHLAND COUNTY ON HIS OUTSTANDING SCHOLASTIC AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACHIEVEMENTS AND TO WISH HIM MUCH CONTINUED SUCCESS AS HE BEGINS HIS HIGH SCHOOL STUDIES THIS FALL.

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 687 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 10, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 687

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
11-35-5350 SO AS TO REQUIRE A PUBLIC ENTITY ENTERING INTO A CONTRACT FOR A 
PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT OR FOR THE PURCHASE OF MATERIALS FOR A PUBLIC WORKS 
PROJECT MUST INCLUDE IN THE CONTRACT A REQUIREMENT THAT ANY IRON OR STEEL 
PRODUCT PERMANENTLY INCORPORATED IN THE PROJECT BE PRODUCED IN THE UNITED 
STATES, AND TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 23, Chapter 35, Title 11 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
11-35-5350. (A) As used in this 
section:

 (1) 
"Head of the public procurement unit" means the individual with ultimate 
responsibility for the administration and operations of the state or local 
public procurement unit, as applicable.

 (2) 
"Iron or steel product" means any product made primarily of iron or steel 
including, but not limited to, lined or unlined pipes and fittings; bars and 
rods; wire, wire ropes, and link chains; forgings; grating and drainage 
products; access covers, hatches, manhole covers, and other castings; hydrants; 
electric transmission and distribution poles; tanks; flanges; pipe clamps and 
restraints; valves; structural steel and other steel mill products; materials 
made primarily of iron and steel within precast concrete; and other 
construction materials made primarily of iron or steel.

 (3) 
"Made primarily of iron or steel" means composed primarily of greater than 
fifty percent iron or steel measured by component cost, volume, or weight.

 (4) 
"Manufacturing process" means the application of a process to alter the form or 
function of materials or elements of a product in a manner that adds value and 
transforms the materials or elements into a new finished product functionally 
different from a finished product produced merely from assembling materials or 
elements into a product without applying such a process. 

 (5) 
"Produced in the United States" means that, with respect to iron and steel, all 
manufacturing processes, from initial melting through application of coatings, 
occur in the United States, other than metallurgical processes to refine steel 
additives.

 (6) 
"Public entity" means the State, or any political subdivision of the State, 
including a school district or agency, department, institution, or other public 
entity of them.

 (7) 
"Public works project" subject to the requirements of this section and 
notwithstanding the provisions of Section 11-35-710(A)(1) to the contrary, 
means an activity paid for with any state-appropriated funds or state funds 
administered by a public entity which consists of the construction, 
maintenance, repair, renovation, remodeling, or improvement of a building, 
road, street, sewer, storm drain, water system, site development, irrigation system, 
reclamation project, gas or electrical distribution system, gas or electrical 
substation, or other facility, project, or portion owned in whole or in part by 
any public entity.

 (B)(1) Except as provided otherwise in 
this section, a public entity entering into a contract for a public works 
project or for the purchase of materials for a public works project must 
include in the contract a requirement that any iron or steel product permanently 
incorporated in the project be produced in the United States.

 (2) 
Item (1) does not apply if the head of the public procurement unit of the 
public entity administering the funds for a public works project or the 
purchase of materials for a public works project solely determines that any of 
the following applies:

 (a) 
Iron or steel products produced in the United States are not produced in 
sufficient quantities, reasonably available, or of satisfactory quality.

 (b) 
The use of iron or steel products produced in the United States will increase 
the total cost of the project by more than twenty-five percent.

 (c) 
Complying with item (1) is inconsistent with the public interest.

 (3) 
Notwithstanding item (1), the following exceptions shall apply:

 (a) When steel and iron materials are 
used in a public works project, item (1) does not prevent a minimal use of 
foreign steel and iron materials if:

 (i) such materials are incidental or 
ancillary to the primary product and are not separately identified in the 
project specifications; and 

 (ii) the cost of such materials does 
not exceed one-tenth of one percent of the project's total steel and iron costs 
or two thousand five hundred dollars, whichever is greater. For purposes of 
this subitem, the cost of such materials is shown to be the value of the iron 
or steel products as they are delivere