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Dive brief:
Diving knowledge:
Biden officials are rushing to get it infrastructure fund at the door ahead of the incoming Trump administration, AP News reported. On November 15, Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced more than $3.4 billion to IIJA grants to expand passenger rail, make roads safer, improve ports and strengthen supply chains, according to a news release from the US DOT.
“We are in the midst of a decade of infrastructure unlike anything this country has seen since the days of Eisenhower and the interstate highway system,” Buttigieg said in the statement.
Although 19 Republicans voted in favor of the IIJA, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to shrink government and dismantle parts of Biden’s bills. The experts say so federal support for public transportAmtrak, high-speed rail and electric vehicles may be at risk.
However, cutting IIJA funding may pose a political challenge, as Republican-leaning states and districts have benefitedaccording to the Global Infrastructure Investment Association.
Still, Trump could put his own stamp on it “by reallocating funds within existing frameworks, streamlining regulations to speed up project approvals, emphasizing public-private partnerships (P3s), focusing on infrastructure energy such as gas pipelines and refineries, and potentially directing funds towards border infrastructure”, according to the GIIA.
Many members of the construction industry expect it infrastructure funding is here to stay New CEO of PCL Construction Chris Gower told Construction Dive, “Overall, I don’t think there’s going to be a big pullback in infrastructure spending.”
Where have the IIJA funds gone so far?
The $1.2 trillion The size and complexity of the IIJA pose challenges to implementation, according to Brookings research.
The announced funding, captured from the agency’s press releases, is preliminary and non-binding, while the awarded funding represents actual obligations, according to the White House. Funding flows through more than 400 programs and is channeled through various federal, state and local entities. The amount of funding awarded so far, however, is unclear.
Most of the IIJA money is intended for the construction of roads and bridgesaccording to data from the White House analyzed by CNBC, followed by rail, broadband, energy and water projects. Biden has also focused replacement of lead pipes throughout the country in the next decade.
According to the White House, the IIJA has created 940,000 construction jobs and funded:
- 11,400 bridge projects.
- Improvements on over 196,000 miles of roads.
- 6,000 cybersecurity and climate resilience efforts.
- 2,400 drinking water and waste water projects.
- 580 port and river projects.
- 400 airport projects.
The Biden administration also touted its three-part approach to speeding up federal permits:
- $1 billion has been invested through the Inflation Reduction Act to hire experts and invest in new technology to speed up reviews.
- Passed reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act and finalized the Bipartisan Permit Reform Implementing Rule to expedite the environmental review process.
- It used executive authorities to improve permitting and environmental review processes.
The administration said it has also expanded the use of categorical exclusions, the fastest form of environmental review.
