OFM News: Biden’s Infrastructure Bill – Everything You Need to Know

As climate change continues to impact communities globally, with rising sea levels and record numbers of disastrous storms, policy makers have set their sights on America’s crumbling infrastructure. 

Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced its sweeping, $2.5 trillion infrastructure plan that would focus on rebuilding and innovating some of the country’s decaying transportation, railways, buildings, and more. 

In a bipartisan deal made in August, however, that budget was cut down to $550 billion, with major cutbacks to things that wouldn’t traditionally be considered infrastructure, such as in-home care for aging Americans and workforce training. Many of those provisions ended up in a separate spending bill. 

The deal calls for investing $110 billion for roads, bridges, and major infrastructure projects, according to the summary. Included is $40 billion for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation, according to the bill text. The White House says it would be the single-largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the interstate highway system, which started in the 1950s.

Some 20 percent, or 173,000 miles, of the nation’s highways and major roads are in poor condition, as are 45,000 bridges, according to the White House. The investments would focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.

The plan also allocated $100 billion for public schools across the nation. Thirty-six thousand public schools need HVAC upgrades; an estimated 54 percent of public-school districts need to update or replace multiple building systems or features in their schools, according to the General Accounting Office’s national survey of school districts.

Biden wants to build a “modern and more sustainable infrastructure” to move toward the country’s goal of a carbon-free energy sector in the U.S. by 2035. The plan includes new underground transmitters for wind and solar energy which would replace the older above ground power lines. 

Climate change and the resulting rising sea levels are also concerns for Biden’s infrastructure plan. Earlier this year, Hurricane Ida hit the Northeast hard and flooded subway stations in New York and New Jersey. In Seattle, record-breaking temperatures melted portions of Interstate 5. 

Floodgates and aquarium-strength glass have been added to some of New York’s subway stations in order to prevent further damage. While asphalt experts on the West Coast begin looking at alternative, more heat-resistant options for roadways. If more sweeping changes are to be made to the country’s infrastructure, federal funding will be necessary.  

The bill has been held up in Congress, as both democrats and republicans try to agree on a budget.