Congress Passes Infrastructure Bill

On 5 November, the U.S. Congress reached the summit of a months-long journey securing passage of legacy legislation and a historic investment in our nation’s infrastructure. By a final vote of 228–206, the House of Representatives adopted H.R.3684 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA), sending the measure to the President’s desk. The effort culminated an arduous three months of negotiations on the Senate-passed bipartisan package and fortified a significant legislative achievement for the Biden administration. With the country still reeling from the ongoing pandemic recovery, the economic burden of rising inflation, and the disruption of a global supply-chain crisis, passage of the IIJA provides not just a bipartisan political victory, but a valuable set of new policy tools for the administration to carry out its economic agenda.

Touted as a historic effort to rebuild America’s roads, bridges and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind, the IIJA provides US$550 billion in new spending over five years to:

• rebuild roads and bridges (US$110 billion); 

• improve public transit systems (US$39.2 billion); 

• expand passenger rail and cover rail safety (US$66 billion);

• upgrade ports and waterways (US$16.6 billion);

• upgrade airports (US$25 billion); 

• invest in broadband infrastructure (US$65 billion);

• fix water systems (US$55 billion);

• modernize the power sector (US$65 billion); and

• and improve climate resilience (US$47.2 billion).

Coupled with the President’s Build Back Better Act, which continues to be under congressional consideration, these investments are intended to add, on average, around 2 million jobs per year over the course of the decade, while accelerating America’s path to full employment and increasing labor force participation.

As the negotiations and legislative process drift into the rear view mirror, the question becomes, what comes next? 

IMPLEMENTING IIJA

The hard work on IIJA now shifts to the Federal agencies for implementation. Over the next five years, the progress of IIJA programs will develop at varying speeds. The administration will be under enormous pressure to stand up new programs and direct funds to the right places as quickly as possible, but larger programs at the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, and others will likely take more time to develop.

The DOT is expected to rely as much as possible on readily available discretionary grant programs, namely the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP), Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE), and Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA). By infusing these previously existing accounts with generous funding, DOT is expected to provide financial stimulus to projects of national importance that can…