LOC News
IIJA/BIL Celebrates One Year Anniversary
Wednesday, November 16 marked the one-year anniversary of President Biden signing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)/Bipartisan infrastructure Law (BIL). This legislation created federal funding on a scale that had not been seen since the construction of the interstate highway system. While much of the first 12 months was spent rolling out the legislation and establishing rules for spending guidance, there is also project funding success within the first 12 months. To date, the federal agencies are reporting $185 billion in investments, covering 7,000 individual projects that are impacting 4,000 communities across the country.
While much of funding is yet to be spent, the scale of the investments does mark significant funding for generational investments in all 50 states and territories. These funds have gone to roads, bridges, ports, and airports, upgrades in public transit and rail systems, and replacing lead pipes to provide clean water, cleaning up legacy pollution, providing affordable, high-speed internet to underserved communities
Oregon is reporting the following accomplishments for the first year.
Roads and Bridges:
- $1.4 billion has been announced for roads, bridges, roadway safety, and major projects.
- $20 million through the RAISE program.
Broadband/Internet:
The Oregon Broadband Office estimates that roughly 142,000 households in Oregon are enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, with more signing up every day. Households can check their eligibility, sign up, and find fully covered internet plans at GetInternet.gov. Actual project funding awards started late this year and will be part of the broadband’s offices focus in 2023 and beyond.
Water Projects:
More than $106 million has been allocated to Oregon to provide clean and safe water across the state and improve water infrastructure. This includes $92 million available in fiscal year 2022 to provide clean and safe water. Of this funding, $37 million is dedicated to lead pipe and service line replacement, with another $24 million for safe drinking water investments that can also support lead pipe replacement in fiscal year 2022.
Public Transit:
Based on formula funding alone, Oregon expects to receive more than $796 million over five years. To date, $151 million has been allocated to improve public transportation options across the state in fiscal year 2022.
To learn more about the full range of BIL funded projects, you can access Oregon’s report here. As the LOC has suggested in earlier communications, please make sure to let your community know how BIL funds are being spent. It will help build support for potential future investments from the federal government and support full implementation of the BIL.
Other notable accomplishments for the BIL include:
- Release of a Permitting Action Plan to strengthen federal permitting and environmental reviews;
- Release of the Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan with more than 20 commitments from federal agencies pledging to speed progress;
- Launched the Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge, with more than 350 commitments from companies to invest in workforce development; and
- Prioritized technical assistance and launched build.gov, a repository for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law resources.
For additional information see the following links:
Contact: Jim McCauley, Legislative Director - jmccauley@orcities.org
Last Updated 11/18/22