House’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Breakdown
On Friday night, the House passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill (228-206 vote) sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk for him to sign. President Biden signaled that he will be signing the bill next week once the House and Senate return from recess. The bill will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments over five years. Overall the bill is an historic investment in our country's infrastructure. The White House has projected that the investment will add about 2 million jobs per year.
This legislation will have a large impact on Pennsylvania as the American Society of Civil Engineers have given our state a C- grade on its infrastructure report card.
Below is a breakdown of the federal legislation on areas that may benefit Bellevue clients. Please reach out to Julie Platt julie@bellevuestrategies.com if you need additional information.
Safety
National Motor Vehicle Per-Mile User Fee Pilot
Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Infrastructure
Workforce Development, Training, and Education
The federal government will make grants to educational institutions or State departments of transportation to create, develop, and test new curricula and educational programs to train individuals at all levels of the transportation workforce
TRANSPORTATION RESILIENCE AND ADAPTATION CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE:
The transportation secretary will designate 10 regional Centers of Excellence for Resilience and Adaptation and 1 national center. The national center will distribute grants that will improve the resilience of regions for natural disasters and extreme weather.
Future of Industry Program and Industrial Research and Assessment Centers: $550 million
Fund institutions of higher education to improve their energy efficiency and environmental performance.
Roads and Bridges
The bill will provide $110 billion to repair aging highways, bridges, and roads. The $40 billion investment in bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation is the single largest dedicated bridge investment since their creation.
Surface Transportation Block Grant Program: $72 billion
The bill adds new eligibility to the Surface Transportation Block Grant Programs that includes electric vehicle charging infrastructure and vehicle-to-grid infrastructure, installation and deployment of intelligent transportation technologies, projects that facilitate intermodal connections between emerging transportation technologies, resilience features, cybersecurity protections, waterfront infrastructure projects, and projects to enhance travel and tourism.
Transportation Alternatives Program: $7.2 billion
Transportation Access Pilot Program
These pilot programs will improve the transportation planning of entities that are selected to participate. The pilot will measure the level of access to important destinations such as jobs, health care facilities, educational and workforce training facilities, housing, food sources, points within the supply chain for freight commodities, points within the supply chain for freight commodities, domestic or international market connections between surface transportation modes.
The pilots will assess the change in accessibility that would result from new transportation investments.
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program: $13.2 billion
Railway-Highway Grade Crossing: $1.225 billion
National Highway Freight Program: $7.15 billion
Stopping Threats on Pedestrians: $25 million
Competitive grant pilot program that will provide assistance to State departments of transportation and local government entities for bollard installation projects designed to prevent pedestrian injuries and acts of terrorism in areas used by large numbers of pedestrians.
100% federal match
Formula Carbon Reduction Program: $6.42 billion
Establishes a new carbon reduction program that will reduce transportation emissions
Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Grant Program: $7.3 billion in formula and $1.4 billion in competitive grants
The legislation establishes the PROTECT Grant Program for resilience improvements at the state and municipal levels. These grants will incentivize state and local communities to improve the resiliency of natural infrastructures.
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998: $1.25 billion
Adds eligibility for public infrastructure located near transportation facilities to promote transit-oriented development.
Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA): $8 billion
Congestion Relief Programs: $250 billion
Establishes a congestion relief program to provide competitive grants to states, local governments, and metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) for projects in large urbanized areas (more than 1 million people) to advance innovative, integrated, and multimodal solutions to congestion relief in the most congested metropolitan areas of the United States.
Awards will be no less than $10 million. When selecting the grants, the Department of Transportation will give priority to eligible projects located in urbanized areas that are experiencing high degrees of recurrent congestion.
Reducing Truck Emissions at Ports: $250 million
Bridge Grant Program: $3.265 billion
Establishes a new competitive grant program to assist state, local, federal, and tribal entities in rehabilitating or replacing bridges, including culverts.
Supplemental Appropriations for FY 2022-2026: $27.5 billion.
Healthy Streets Program: $500 million
An effort to mitigate “urban heat islands.” States and local governments will be able to apply up to $15 million to use technology to cool pavements and increase tree canopies in disadvantaged areas.
Reconnection Communities Pilot Program: $500 million
This program would target urban freeways projects that may have divided communities since the 1950s. The bill will help with highway removal and rebuild neighborhoods that were impacted.
Fund feasibility studies on the impact of removing, retrofitting, or mitigating freeways that have cut communities apart.
Fund construction to carry out a project to remove, retrofit or mitigate an eligible facility and, if appropriate, to replace it.
Supplemental Appropriations for FY 2022-2026: $500 million.
Highway Safety Improvement: $15.575 billion
Multi-Model Grants
National Infrastructure Project Assistance: $10 billion
Single or multi-year grants for states and local governments for projects that will generate economic benefits, mobility or safety.
Supplemental Appropriations for FY 2022-2026: $5 billion.
Local and Regional Project Assistance:
Will fund eligible projects that will have a significant local or regional impacts and improve transportation infrastructure
Grants will be awarded evenly to urban and rural communities
No less than $5 million for an urban area
No less than $1 million for rural areas
No more than $25 million per grant
Primary selection criteria will include if the project improves safety, improves environmental sustainability, improves quality of life, increases economic competitiveness and opportunity (including tourism), improves mobility and community connectivity.
Supplemental Appropriations for FY 2022-2026: $7.5 billion for the RAISE Grant Program.
Rail and Freight:
Emerging Technology Research Pilot Program: $25 million
Pilot program that will research and develop activities relating to leveraging advanced and additive manufacturing technologies to increase the structural integrity and cost-effectiveness of surface transportation infrastructure.
Public Transit
$39 billion has been allocated to expand and modernize our country's transportation system. This is the largest investment in public transportation in our country's history.
Amtrak National Network: $12.65 billion
Amtrak Northeast Corridor Grants: $6.57 billion
Federal-State partnership for intercity passenger rail grants: $7.5 billion
Railroad Crossing Safety: $3 billion
Restoration and Enhancement Grant Program (FRA): $259 million
Safe Street and Roads for All Grant Program: $1 billion
Grants for local governments to reduce transportation-related fatalities and serious injuries also called “Vision Zero” or “Towards Zero Deaths”
Supplemental Appropriations for FY 2022-2026. $5 billion
Capital Investments Grants: $15 billion
State of Good Repair Formula Grants: $18.39 billion
Bus Formula Grants: $3.161 billion
Bus Competitive: $2.34 billion
Low-No Buses: $374.6 million
Urbanized Area Formula Grants: $33.54 billion
Broadband Infrastructure
The legislation includes $65 billion in funding for broadband infrastructure and includes specific initiatives to target certain populations and areas of the county.
Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program: $42.45 billion
States will receive a minimum of $100 million and states will then receive additional funds based on a formula that considers the number of underserved and high-cost areas (rural and remote).
States will sub-grant funds that prioritize broadband projects that will serve unserved areas and will connect eligible community anchor institutions such as schools, community centers, hospitals, health clinics, libraries, and public housing organizations. The broadband projects must support the deployment of 5 G broadband.
Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Programs: $2.75 billion
Two grant programs will be awarded to states to help improve digital literacy, accessibility, and digital inclusion
State Digital Equality Capacity Grant Program: $60 million for states to develop State Equality Plans. State plans must include how they will work with stakeholders such as veterans and civil rights organizations - $240 million for FY 2022 and $300 million per year for FY 2023 to 2026.
Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program: $250 million per year for competitive grants for public and nonprofit organizations that will increase digital inclusion and digital equality.
Emergency Broadband Benefits: $14.2 billion
Makes the Emergency Broadband benefit permanent calling it the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Electric Vehicles
Charging and Refueling Grant Program ($2.5 billion)
Grants will be available to local governments, MPOs, and additional public sector organizations. 50% of the total grants will be given to community organizations to install charging stations in public locations such as parks, schools, and public spaces.
Clean School Bus Program: ($5 billion)
Grants for states, local governments, and nonprofits to replace existing school buses that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.
50% of funds will be used to replace existing school buses with zero-emission school buses
50% to replace existing school buses with clean school buses and zero-emission school buses
Water Infrastructure: $35 billion
Included in the legislation were the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (S.914) that authorizes $35 billion in existing programs and new programs to support water infrastructure.
Drinking-Water Revolving Fund: Provides grants to states to support water infrastructure. $2.4 billion for FY 2022; $2.75 billion for FY 2023; $3 billion for FY 2024; and $3.25 billion for each of FY 2025 and FY 2026.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: Provides grants to states for loans supporting water quality improvement projects. Authorizes $2.4 billion for FY 2022; $2.75 billion for FY 2023; $3 billion for FY 2024; and $3.25 billion for each of FY 2025 and FY 2026.
Drinking-Water Assistance for Small and Disadvantaged Communities: Grants to fund public water systems in underserved communities. Authorizes $70 million for FY 2022; $80 million for FY 2023; $100 million for FY 2024; $120 million for FY 2025 and $140 million for FY 2026.
Lead in Drinking Water: Funding to address lead in drinking water in schools. Authorizes $30 million for FY 2022; $35 million for FY 2023; $40 million for FY 2024; $45 million for FY 2025 and $50 million for FY 2026.
Resiliency and Sustainability Grants: $50 million annually
Addressing Sanitary Sewer Overflows and Stormwater Reuse: $280 million annually for FY 2022 through FY 2026
What the legislation means for Pennsylvania and Philadelphia
Below you will find a summary of the legislation and what it means for Pennsylvania. The chart below shows what Pennsylvania is estimated to receive at the moment, but as more details emerge Bellevue will keep you updated.
The infrastructure bill will allocate for Pennsylvania $11.3 billion for highway repair and $1.6 billion for bridge repair and replacement. In the Commonwealth, there are currently 3,353 bridges and over 7,540 miles of highway in poor condition. Pennsylvania may also apply for a portion of the $12.5 billion set aside for the Bridge Investment Program. Additionally, the Commonwealth may apply for the nearly $16 billion dedicated for major projects that will deliver substantial economic benefits to communities.
Of the $39 billion set aside for improvements to public transportation, $2.8 billion will be received by Pennsylvania. This funding stream will help public transit systems within the Commonwealth to project their budgets and plan accordingly. Furthermore, the infrastructure bill’s $66 billion for the passenger and freight rails of the nation will see various improvements within Pennsylvania. For example, cities such as Scranton, Reading, and Allentown will be connected by Amtrak to New York City. Additionally, the Amtrak line connecting Erie to Buffalo and Cleveland will run more frequently.
The broadband funding of the infrastructure bill will have a profound impact on the Commonwealth. Currently, 14% of households in Pennsylvania do not have an internet subscription and 3.1% of Pennslvanians live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure. Pennsylvania will receive a minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state. Additionally, 23% of people in Pennsylvania will be eligible for the Affordability Connectivity Benefit, which will help low-income families afford internet access.
The environmental remediation portion of the bill will help with environmental concerns like abandoned mine reclamation and watershed improvements. Over half of Pennsylvania’s counties have identified abandoned mines within their borders. Pennsylvania is expected to receive more than $3 billion to assist with abandoned mine reclamation. Furthermore, $26 million will be allocated for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program.
