§ 515.591 Services related to infrastructure.
Persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are authorized to provide to Cuba or Cuban nationals services related to developing, repairing, maintaining, and enhancing Cuban infrastructure that directly benefit the Cuban people, provided that those services are consistent with the export or reexport licensing policy of the Department of Commerce. For the purposes of this section, infrastructure means systems and assets used to provide the Cuban people with goods and services produced or provided by the public transportation, water management, waste management, non-nuclear electricity generation, and electricity distribution sectors, as well as hospitals, public housing, and primary and secondary schools. This authorization includes projects related to the environmental protection of U.S., Cuban, and international air quality, waters, and coastlines.
Note 1 to § 515.591:
For provisions related to transactions ordinarily incident to the exportation or reexportation of items to Cuba, see §§ 515.533 and 515.559. See § 746.2(b) of the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR parts 730 through 774) for the Department of Commerce's Cuba licensing policy.
Note 2 to § 515.591:
See § 515.564 for a general license authorizing travel-related and other transactions incident to professional research and professional meetings in Cuba, § 515.533(c) for a general license authorizing travel-related and other transactions relating to certain exports and reexports to Cuba, and § 515.575(a) for a general license authorizing transactions, including travel-related transactions, related to certain humanitarian projects.
[81 FR 71378, Oct. 17, 2016, as amended at 85 FR 60072, Sept. 24, 2020; 87 FR 35091, June 9, 2022]
1) Apart from FAQ # 801, discussing this provision with no substantive analysis, there appears to be no further public-facing guidance form OFAC interpreting the scope of this GL.
There are several terms here that present particularly difficult interpretive questions. First, the terms "systems and assets."
What would be deemed a service "related to" (broad) infrastructure that "directly benefit the Cuban people" (restrictive) is very unclear. Even though "infrastructure" is a closed list within the provision, "directly benefit the Cuban people" is presumably meant to exclude anything connected to, e.g., a military installation, but on the other hand the inclusion of "non-nuclear electricity generation" and "coastline" protection indicates that the "directly benefit" limitation need not only entail retail-type endeavors such as hospitals and public transit.
2) Much of what could be exported here may qualify as "technology" within the meaning of the EAR.
3) Note 2 to §515.591 amended on 9-24-2020 to remove the reference to the deleted "professional meetings" GL (515.564); amended again on 8-6-22 to restore the reference to the "professional meetings" GL.
4) See Case No. CU-2015-315858-1, a guidance letter appearing to interpret the GL relatively broadly, and determining that travel to Cuba for “site assessments” in connection with the authorized provision of services are covered by at least one of “professional meetings” and “professional research”.