Yesterday, President Biden signed into law the US Infrastructure Investment and Job Act. The $1.2 trillion package is one of the most significant long-term investments in the country’s infrastructure since the Great Recession.
Investments
$550 billion of the $1.2 trillion package is allocated to additional spending that was not already part of the national current spending baseline.
As part of the $550 billion new investment, a total of $257.5 billion is dedicated to capital infrastructure improvements broken down as follows:
- $110 billion is allocated to fund roads, bridges, and other surface transportation programs
- $39.2 billion to mass transit
- $66 billion for passenger and freight rail
- $25 billion for airport improvements
- $17.3 billion for ports and inland waterways
Additional infrastructure investments include:
- $55 billion is allocated for wastewater, drinking water, and water supply spending
- $65 billion to improve broadband access
- $73 billion is for upgrading electrical power and the grid
On a climate-related front, $43 billion of the new investment is being distributed to support resiliency upgrades to address climate change and extreme weather impacts. Likewise, $50 billion is allocated to respond to emergencies including droughts, wildfires and major storms. Moreover, to promote green energy and combat pollution, there’s also $7.5 billion intended for electric school buses and zero-emission ferries and $7.5 billion for national electric-vehicle charging infrastructure.
Implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act
President Biden issued an Executive Order that outlined the implementation priorities for the Act, as well as establishing an Infrastructure Implementation Task Force to coordinate investments at the federal, state, and local levels.
More details surrounding the implementation of the US Infrastructure Investment and Job Act timeline is to follow in the coming weeks.
