Tag Archives: infrastructure

Biden Administration, Economic Policies, Economy, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Marks Progress Strengthening America’s Supply Chains

How fast they forget: while people complain about paying an extra dollar for eggs (and egg producers report record profits), when Joe Biden took office, the supply chain for basics was still disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, sending prices high. Biden managed to keep inflation to a relatively low level even with the spike, and spent his four year-term making sure America is never so vulnerable to supply disruptions again © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

While Trump, Elon Musk (the unelected but richest man in the world and Trump’s puppeteer) and the House Republicans are salivating over the prospect of shutting down the government to make sure Biden’s transformative, historic administration ends with suffering of the American people – even stopping the $100 billion in disaster aid – President Biden continues to work feverishly to effect as much positive, sustainable change as possible. This included stepping in to avert a nationwide Teamsters strike at the nation’s biggest ports, rebuilding a bridge over I-95 in Philadelphia and reopening the Port of Baltimore in a matter of weeks, not years, after a catastrophic accident collapsed the Key Bridge, and addressing a series of rail accidents. His historic, landmark Bipartisan Infrastructure Act has already greenlit some 63,000 projects across the nation.

Biden’s achievements in standing up the supply chain so ravaged by the coronavirus epidemic is why the United States never suffered the level of inflation as other countries – as much as people have complained about high grocery prices (apparently not factoring in record profits and price gouging of food suppliers) – and produced sustainable economic growth (from the bottom up and the middle out) that is the envy of the world.

Here is a fact sheet, provided by the White House, on what the Biden Administration is doing to secure supply chains in order to keep grocery prices from spiraling as after the coronavirus pandemic’s disruption. Trump’s proposed tariffs and plans for mass deportation of undocumented migrants promise to trigger price spikes in groceries again.- Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Upon taking office in 2021, President Biden and his Administration immediately got to work addressing the shocks that were roiling global supply chains and moved swiftly to secure key industries for America’s economy and national security. Everything in our lives—the food we eat, the medicines in our hospitals, the energy that powers our homes, the computer chips in our devices—relies on supply chains, and the disruptions sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine showed what happens when they are neglected for decades.
 
Four years later, America’s supply chains are stronger and more resilient. Working hand in hand with industry and all stakeholders, this Administration has cleared bottlenecks, increased investments in critical sectors, and shored up the transportation sector that move the goods that Americans rely on. Ocean shipping prices have fallen more than 70 percent from their peak, and today fewer than 20 containerships are waiting to dock at U.S. ports, compared to over 150 backed up during the peak of congestion. That progress has made supply chains more reliable for businesses and lowered inflation for the goods that families buy every day.

The Biden-Harris Administration released the first-ever Quadrennial Supply Chain Review, a formal assessment of four years of strengthening America’s critical supply chains, and announcing additional actions to support American businesses and consumers.
 
Progress to Date
 
The Quadrennial Supply Chain Review assesses the progress made over the past four years to bolster the resilience of our most critical supply chains. This strategic approach has included:
 

  • Responding to disruption. The Administration quickly set to work to develop new government tools and capacity to respond to disruptions, both active ones when it took office, and new ones that have occurred since. The President’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force (SCDTF) has effectively coordinated federal authorities and resources and also established a process to work with state and local authorities and the private sector in real time. This work has helped improved the flow of goods into and around the United States during disruptions—getting products critical to American families moving again through ports and to shelves.
     
  • Investing in infrastructure and manufacturing and lowering costs. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken a made historic investments to strengthen our industrial bases and lower costs. U.S. Government investment has helped catalyze over $1 trillion in private-sector announced investments since January 2021. These investments are supporting the construction of new factories and creating manufacturing jobs across the country.
     
  • Responding to non-market policies and practices. On a level playing field, American businesses and workers can compete and win. However, our strategic competitors are continuing to engage in non-market policies and practices (NMPP) that undercut our collective resilience—directing their systems to target key industries for dominance by using excessive state subsidies and other forms of state support to dominate critical industries. As part of the Quadrennial Supply Chain Review process, the Biden-Harris Administration has developed a strategy to address NMPP, recognizing the need for early, comprehensive action to prevent harm to U.S. workers and industry, as well as modernized trade authorities that account for NMPP’s continued effects on global supply chains. This work has included raising tariffs on a select number of key sectors to safeguard U.S. supply chains in the face of unfair competition. These tariff modifications will protect historic domestic investments under BIL, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, while also shielding American businesses and workers from unfair trade practices.

 
The Review builds on comprehensive efforts undertaken by the Administration over the last four years, including President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains (E.O. 14017), which directed rapid supply chain assessments for four critical products in the first 100 days of the Administration, a one-year review of six key supply chains in 2022, and the establishment of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience to support the enduring resilience of America’s critical supply chains in 2023.
 
Additional Actions to Strengthen Supply Chains
 
Continuing to strengthen supply chains over the next four years—and beyond—will require the United States to deliver on historic domestic investments, maintain and strengthen international partnerships, harness innovation to tackle 21st-century challenges, and mobilize and facilitate ongoing private investment and public-private partnerships. The work of the last four years has laid a strong foundation for the United States to continue safeguarding the enduring resilience of our supply chains for years to come, including for emerging industries of the future.
 
Below are additional steps the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to strengthen supply chains, including for energy, critical minerals, agricultural commodities and food products, medical products, information and communications technology, transportation, and defense.
 
Energy
 

  • Announcing up to $6 billion in incentives to strengthen U.S. energy supply chains. Over the coming weeks, the IRS, supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), is set to announce up to $6 billion in additional tax credits to strengthen U.S. energy supply chains through the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) Program. This builds on the first round of $4 billion in announced tax credits for over 100 projects in 35 states to accelerate domestic clean energy manufacturing and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at industrial facilities. This also builds on over $12 billion of investment from the DOE MESC Office in domestic manufacturing capacity to strengthen the U.S. energy supply chains.
     
  • Improving risk mitigation across the energy supply chain. To improve visibility across multiple technologies in the energy industrial base, DOE and a consortium of the National Laboratories have developed a new analytic framework—the Supply Chain Readiness Level—to quantify risks, gaps, and vulnerabilities, and to identify investment opportunities across the energy sector.

 
Critical Minerals
 

  • Mapping America’s critical minerals deposits. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is announcing new airborne geophysical mapping in the Ozarks Plateau (Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas) and Alaska over areas known to host minerals such as antimony, tin, tungsten, and lead and zinc ores, as well as byproduct critical minerals such as gallium and germanium. USGS’s mapping work, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), is revolutionizing the U.S. Government’s understanding of the nation’s mineral and geologic resources. USGS and NASA are partnering to complete the largest high-quality hyperspectral survey in the world, surveying more than 180,000 square miles of the Southwest with sensors that make it possible to “see” nuanced differences between materials.
     
  • Updating the U.S.’s critical minerals market data. Next month, USGS will publish its 2025 Mineral Commodity Summaries. These annual reports help forecast supply chain disruptions resulting from a variety of risks including pandemics, natural disasters, and trade wars, and are the U.S.’s authoritative source of data on the supply, demand, and consumption of 100 mineral commodities. Additionally, last month, researchers at the USGS National Minerals Information Center developed a new model to assess how disruptions of critical mineral supplies may affect the U.S. economy. This model reflects the latest whole-of-government risk and resilience methodology.

 
Food and Agriculture
 

  • Making $116 million in new investments to expand domestic fertilizer production. Today, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing eight new awards through its Fertilizer Production Expansion Program, part of a broader effort to increase American-made fertilizer production to spur competition and combat price hikes on U.S. farmers. Since President Biden announced the program in 2022, USDA has invested $517 million in 76 fertilizer production facilities to expand access to domestic fertilizer options for American farmers in 34 states and Puerto Rico. These investments will increase U.S. fertilizer production by 11.8 million tons annually and create more than 1,300 jobs in rural communities. This funding builds on the more than $1.4 billion USDA has invested to build or expand small and medium sized processing facilities and to create a more resilient U.S. food supply chain which gives farmers more market options while providing consumers with more choices and affordable grocery prices.

 
Medical Products
 

  • Investing an additional $26 million in domestic sterilization capacity. Building on recent investments in industrial base capability and capacity expansion through DPA Title III authorities and Public-Private Partnerships, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expects additional investments of $26 million in alternative sterilization capacity before the end of 2024.
  • Releasing an action plan for the next four years. HHS will publish its Draft 2025-2028 Action Plan for Addressing Shortages of Medical Products and Strengthening the Resilience of Medical Product Supply Chains, outlining supply chain resilience goals and a strategic plan to achieve them. The HHS Action Plan will also include an HHS Research Plan to collate HHS and academic research priorities that would promote Action Plan goals.
     
  • Issuing stronger supply chain standards for hospitals to combat drug shortages. In notice and comment rulemaking, CMS intends to propose new Conditions of Participation requiring hospitals to have certain processes to address and prevent medication shortages.

 
Semiconductors and Other Technologies
 

  • Investing in domestic production. CHIPS for America has awarded over $26 billion in incentives to advance domestic production in semiconductors and the supply chain. Now, America is home to all five of the world’s leading-edge logic and memory providers, while no other economy has more than two. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, semiconductor and electronics companies have announced nearly $450 billion in private investments, catalyzed in large part by public investment.
     
  • Reducing national security risks in federal supply chains. The Department of Defense, General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are finalizing a rule implementing Section 5949 of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which prohibits agencies from procuring or obtaining certain products and services that include semiconductors from entities of concern.
     
  • Promoting the U.S. government’s use of domestically manufactured semiconductors. The Made in America Office and Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) has released a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge the best ways for government contractors to scale up their use of domestically manufactured chips, particularly for critical infrastructure. Responses solicit commercial ideas from industry that may inform future policymaking in support of the government-wide effort to leverage existing manufacturing capacity.
     
  • Incentivizing supply chain diversity, competition, and transparency. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is issuing guidance to help the Federal Government—the world’s largest buyer—organize its demand for domestic semiconductors so that agencies can mitigate the risk posed by undue dependence on foreign manufacturing, limited competition, and possible higher manufacturing costs. The effort encourages agencies to develop strategies to dual or multiple source semiconductors, increase transparency for critical infrastructure supply chains, and provide the government’s forecasted demand for the products and services that use these chips.
     
  • Protecting American businesses from unfair trade practices. In May, the President announced increased Section 301 tariffs on semiconductor imports from China, which were finalized by the USTR in September, as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to further protect American semiconductor manufacturing and the sustainability of domestic investments.

 
Transportation
 

  • Helping states improve their supply chain operations. The Department of Transportation (DOT) continues to advance this work by working closely with other levels of government and industry stakeholders. DOT’s Freight Office is establishing the National Multimodal Freight Network to assist States in strategically directing resources toward improved system performance for the efficient movement of freight on the Network, to inform freight transportation planning, and to assist in the prioritization of Federal investment.
     
  • Expanding visibility into ocean freight supply chains. Today, DOT is announcing that it has added more members to the Freight Logistics Optimization Works (FLOW) program, a public-private partnership to build an integrated view of U.S. supply chain conditions, and which supported the response to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Today, FLOW now includes eight of the largest ten container ports representing over 80% of all U.S. imports; nine of the largest ten ocean carriers representing over 70% of all U.S. imports; and six of the largest ten importers.
     
  • Building the transportation of tomorrow. USTDA, DFC, and EXIM are all making investments to improve transportation across air, land, and sea. EXIM’s investments will expand U.S. exports of all electric-powered aircraft, while USTDA is improving the efficiency and safety of freight rail and digital customs processes. In areas around the world with high vessel traffic, DFC is also developing new ports to move goods in critical supply chains from place to place. Since its creation, DFC investments in critical infrastructure have transported over 64 million passengers alone.

 
Defense
 

  • Releasing a National Defense Industrial Strategy and Implementation Plan. This fall, the Department of Defense (DoD) released the Implementation Plan to accompany its first-ever National Defense Industrial Strategy (NDIS). The NDIS is guiding investments to strengthen supply chain resilience, including by purchasing key elements that we need for sustainable defense production. For example, the United States has invested $215 million to boost production of solid rocket motors, which are one of the most critical components used in our advanced missile systems.
     
  • Establishing domestic manufacturing capability for strategic and critical materials. From mid-2023 through September 2024, DoD invested $250 million in defense-critical materials such as graphite, lithium, niobium oxide, and manganese. These investments will ensure secure access to sources and to domestic separation and processing in support of a range of defense applications, from large-capacity batteries to advanced aircraft to microelectronics.
     
  • Investing in the defense industrial base workforce. The defense supply chain depends in large part on a strong and vibrant workforce. The Administration has pursued numerous initiatives to ensure Americans can access jobs in the defense industrial sector that pay competitive wages and get the training they need to turn these jobs into meaningful careers. Earlier this year, the Navy partnered with the Departments of Education and Labor and with the State of Michigan to launch the Michigan Maritime Manufacturing Initiative, which expands regional training pipelines for the submarine industry into the Great Lakes region.

 
Strengthening U.S. Government Data, Analytics, and Response Capacity
 

  • Preparing for a second Supply Chain Summit. In September 2024, the Department of Commerce held its first Supply Chain Summit. Commerce convened officials from government, industry, academia, and civil society to discuss how to effectively prepare for and respond to supply chain disruptions, as well as proactively improve supply chain resilience. Commerce will host another Supply Chain Summit in 2025. The Summit will bring together government, industry, and other stakeholders to examine continual progress made in increasing American supply chain resiliency. The date of the Summit will be announced in the months ahead.
  • Upgrading the new SCALE diagnostic tool. The Department of Commerce’s Industry and Analysis unit developed a first-of-its-kind supply chain diagnostic tool to assess supply chain risk across the whole of the U.S. economy. The tool proactively helps identify risks and strengthen the resilience of supply chains key to U.S. national and economic security. The Department of Commerce plans to launch a competition aimed at developing new data or analysis that can be used to expand the indicators of risk incorporated into the SCALE tool.
  • Conducting supply chain tabletop exercises with industry. In 2025, Commerce will conduct two tabletop exercises with industry to better understand opportunities to address structural supply chain risks faced by the United States. One exercise will focus on supply chain risks in the chemicals industry; the second will focus on an emerging technology where it is critical the United States maintain a strategic advantage.
     
  • Addressing supply chain risks for “critical chemicals.” Working with the interagency, Commerce is developing a list of chemicals that are essential to critical supply chains, and where supply is insecure. Alongside this effort, Commerce is finalizing short-, medium- and long-term policy proposals to strengthen the supply chain. Elements of this work will form the basis of the Chemical Tabletop Exercise in 2025.

 
Emerging Technologies
 

  • Convening industry on AI data centers. Commerce continues to drive efforts to get ahead of supply chain risks in critical and emerging technologies by developing playbooks and conducting deep dive assessments into emerging technologies such as quantum computing and clean hydrogen. In the second half of 2024, Commerce carried out a sprint to assess under-the-radar risks in AI data center supply chains, engaging more than 35 companies and leveraging in-house industry expertise and the SCALE tool to assess the highest-risk components and identify steps that government and industry can take to address them. In December, Commerce convened companies to share the results of its analysis and identify next steps.

 
Building Resilience with Allies and Partners
 

  • Presidential Summit on Global Supply Chain Resilience. In October 2021, President Biden convened over a dozen world leaders to improve international collaboration on supply chain resilience. Following the President’s convening, the Secretaries of State and Commerce hosted a Supply Chain Ministerial to further advance this work. The original Joint Statement from the ministerial now has 31 signatories who have agreed to make global supply chains more transparent, diverse, secure, and sustainable.
     
  • Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Supply Chain Agreement. The IPEF Supply Chain Agreement entered into force in February 2024 and will improve the preparedness, resilience, and competitiveness of regional supply chains. The United States and 13 Indo-Pacific partners have established a Supply Chain Council. In 2025, the Council will develop and implement action plans to strengthen supply chains across several critical industries. A Crisis Response Network will serve as a warning system for potential supply chain disruptions, and a Labor Rights Advisory Board will convene IPEF government officials, employers, and labor officials to improve labor rights and workforce development across regional supply chains.
     
  • Eradicating forced labor from supply chains. As part of the Partnership for Workers’ Rights launched in 2023, the U.S. and Brazil worked with businesses and unions to address worker vulnerability to forced labor in supply chains for cattle, coffee, gold, charcoal, and other goods.
     
  • Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI). PGI is a bipartisan initiative in partnership with the G7 to provide strategic, values-driven, and high-standard infrastructure and investment in low- and middle-income countries. Through initiatives like the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, highlighted on the President’s recent visit to Angola, the United States is working with partners to strengthen and diversify supply chains.
     
  • G7 Surge Financing Initiative. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), G7 development finance institutions (DFIs), European Investment Bank (EIB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and MedAccess announced the Surge Financing Initiative for Medical Countermeasures (MCMs). Together, partners are working closely with global and regional health organizations to establish frameworks and innovative financing mechanisms to support more rapid and equitable pandemic response.
  • Boosting critical mineral capacity with partners. DFC invested over $220m in rare earth, graphite, and nickel projects in the last four years, reducing dependence on strategic adversaries and improving resilience in the critical mineral supply chain. The Department of Labor, USAID, United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), and the State Department through the Minerals Security Partnership have also provided technical support to bring new capacity online to process critical minerals in line with international best practices.
     
  • Strengthening resilient telecommunications. In Costa Rica, EXIM approved a preliminary commitment to support Costa Rica’s use of trusted vendors to deploy its 5G network. With Japan and Australia, DFC is supporting the delivery of high-quality telecommunication services for over 2.5 million subscribers across Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, and Nauru.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, Energy, Infrastructure, Jobs, Manufacturing, News & Photo Features

Memo to America: Biden’s Investing in America Policy to Building Sustainable Economy Has Generated $1 Trillion in Private Sector Investment in Clean Energy, Manufacturing

More than 3.4 million American families have already saved $8.4 billion on home clean energy upgrades, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Three million more households in America have high-speed internet today than when President Biden took office. There are already more than 74,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects underway across the country, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. That includes 11,400 bridge projects, 196,000 miles of roads under repair, and 376,000 lead pipes already replaced, benefitting nearly 1 million people. Millions of seniors are benefitting from the $35 cap on the cost of insulin, and the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries has already saved 1.5 million seniors nearly $1 billion in the first half of 2024, with Medicare beneficiaries feeling the full benefits starting in January. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

People said they voted against Kamala Harris because they were just so so very upset about inflation, how they were suffering in this terrible economy, so voted for the guy who not only had no policy, plan or program to address inflation or high prices, but whose stated Project 2025 policies (tariffs) would hurt the economy, jobs and prices. But I am wondering how bad the economy really could be if holiday spending is already up 9%, malls and online sites are seeing massive increases in shoppers, there is record travel on the roads and through airports. Oh, by the way, gas prices are around $3 or less a gallon – close to 2019; – and inflation has fallen below 2.3% for the year, comparable to 2019, while REAL wage increases (that is increased income compared to inflation) are up on average $4000; Thanksgiving meal prices are down. But those working class people (suckers) who think that Trump will give them a better deal? Are you kidding or just really willfully ignorant? Have you seen the billionaires, kleptocrats, oligarchs (not to mention the misogynists, sexual predators and felons) he is installing in power? They are already salivating at shutting down the National Labor Relations Board, ending food and product safety regulation, environmental protection, restricting food stamps and vaccinations for poor children and cutting Medicare and Social Security, while serving up deeper tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals (the top 0.1% already control more wealth than 50 percent of the country) and corporations, already sitting on record profits from price-gouging.

Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff offered this memo “to interested parties” on what President Biden accomplished that I’m betting 99.9% of Americans have no clue about $1 TRILLION in private sector investment in clean energy and manufacturing since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office because of Biden’s Investing in America agenda, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act – all of which Republicans tried to block, obstruct, sabotage and now threaten to repeal.It’s like the way Republicans were able to generate hostility to Obama’s Affordable Care Act in order to win the 2010 midterms and how Obamacare has become so popular and important in people’s lives, but Trump and the MAGA Republicans are still keen to repeal it, leaving millions without healthcare desperate and insecure – Karen Rubin, news-photos-features.com

On the success of $1 trillion in investment due to his policies and approach to building a sustainable economy “from the bottom up and the middle out,” President Biden stated:

When I took office, the pandemic was raging and the economy was reeling. From Day One, I was determined to not only deliver economic relief, but to invest in America and grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down.

Over the last four years, that’s exactly what we’ve done. We passed legislation to rebuild our infrastructure, build a clean energy economy, and bring manufacturing back to the United States after decades of offshoring. Today I’m proud to announce my Investing in America agenda—the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act—has helped attract over $1 trillion in announced private-sector investments. These investments in industries of the future are ensuring the future is made in America, by American workers. And they’re creating opportunities in communities too often left behind.

Over 1.6 million construction and manufacturing jobs have been created over the last four years, and our investments are making America a leader in clean energy and semiconductor technologies that will protect our economic and national security, while expanding opportunities in red states and blue states.

Today, thanks to my Investing in America agenda, businesses around the world are investing in America—which is good news for American workers and American businesses—and we’re positioned to win the economic competition for the 21st century.

To: Interested Parties

From: Natalie Quillian, White House Deputy Chief of Staff

MEMO: President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda’s Growing Durability and Popularity

When President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office, America was in the midst of a deadly pandemic and our economy was reeling. Since then, President Biden and Vice President Harris have overseen one of the most successful administrations in history and will be leaving behind the best economy in the world.

Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, 16 million jobs have been created, and we’ve gotten women and people of color back in the labor force at record rates. A record 20 million new business applications have been filed, and inflation is down to near pre-pandemic levels. These outcomes are due in part to our success in passing and implementing legislation that rebuilt our nation’s infrastructure, made the largest investment in climate action in history, lowered prescription drug costs, and spurred a manufacturing renaissance. Together, the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda – are reshaping our economy. And as of today, that agenda has helped spur over $1 trillion in private sector investment in clean energy and manufacturing since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office.

The level of private sector investment seen under this administration is unprecedented. Business leaders have called the boom in private investment “nothing short of extraordinary,” and have said the United States’ economy is “among the best performing economies” in decades. It is driving a manufacturing renaissance across the country and onshoring new and growing industries such as semiconductors, solar, batteries, and more. It’s also helping rebuild communities and create opportunity in places that were overlooked or left behind by public and private investment for far too long.

As of today, the Department of Commerce has announced over two dozen preliminary or final agreements with semiconductor manufacturing companies to create American-made chips in Phoenix, Arizona; Columbus, Ohio; Taylor, Texas; Syracuse, New York, and more, spurring over $400 billion in private investment that will create at least 125,000 jobs. Over $119 billion in investments in EVs and batteries and $122 billion in clean power have been announced in just the two years since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed. Recent announcements show these investments have continued at a steady pace. For example, in the last month alone, SolarCycle announced it would invest $400 million in Georgia for the largest solar panel recycling facility in the country, MainSpring Energy announced it would match an $87 million grant from the Department of Energy to manufacture power generators in Allegheny County, PA, and Microporous announced a $1.35 billion investment to create 2,000 jobs building battery separators in southern Virginia.

In addition to private investment, the Biden-Harris Administration has been implementing these laws quickly, effectively and equitably since the day the first Investing in America bill was signed. Due to that effort, there are already more than 74,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects underway across the country, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act. That includes 11,400 bridge projects, 196,000 miles of roads under repair, and 376,000 lead pipes already replaced, benefitting nearly 1 million people. More than 3.4 million American families have already saved $8.4 billion on home clean energy upgrades, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Three million more households in America have high-speed internet today than when President Biden took office. Millions of seniors are benefitting from the $35 cap on the cost of insulin, and the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries has already saved 1.5 million seniors nearly $1 billion in the first half of 2024, with Medicare beneficiaries feeling the full benefits starting in January.

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced awards for 98% of Investing in America funding available for us to spend by the end of fiscal year 2024. Departments and agencies are running through the tape – announcing more awards, finalizing contracts and grant agreements, and accelerating permitting timelines. For example, the Department of Transportation executed more than twice as many grant agreements compared to the prior administration, completed 20 percent more environmental reviews in the transportation sector, and cut the time it takes to complete environmental assessments for transportation projects by one third.

These programs and projects mean real benefits for people across the country. It’s why as we continue to implement the Investing in America agenda, we see these programs grow in popularity even among skeptics, suggesting that the transformation of the U.S. economy is here to stay. For example:

  • Nearly 8 in 10 Americans support keeping the Inflation Reduction Act’s $35 per month cap on the cost of insulin for seniors, including 76% of Republicans.
  • A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 88% of Americans support the Administration’s work building or repairing our nation’s roads, bridges, rail lines, ports and other infrastructure.
  • Outside groups have found that the majority of private sector investments spurred by Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits are going to red districts, and 57 percent of the new clean energy jobs created since the Inflation Reduction Act passed are located in Congressional districts represented by Republicans.

The progress we’ve made, however, represents only a fraction of the full impact of this agenda. As the President said earlier this month, the impacts of this historic agenda “will be felt over the next 10 years.” If future Administrations continue to implement at the pace we have, people across the country will enjoy the benefits of safer water, cleaner air, faster internet, and smoother commutes.  For example, by the end of 2026, the country is on track to have launched repairs on a total of over 356,000 miles of highway and over 20,800 bridges with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. By the end of 2028, communities will replace more than one million toxic lead pipes, bringing clean water to over 2.5 million people and protecting the health and safety of children and families.  And by 2030, 6 million more households and small businesses will have access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet.

Also, major projects we’ve funded will be completed in the coming years. For example, TSMC’s first Arizona factory will fully open in early 2025 and for the first time in decades, an American manufacturing plant will produce leading-edge chips. Service on the Brightline West High Speed Rail System, connecting Las Vegas, Nevada to Rancho Cucamonga, California, is on track to start in 2028, in time for the Los Angeles Olympics. A project to replace Michigan’s outdated I-375 freeway will be completed in the same year.

Over the coming months, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue the critical work of implementing the Investing in America agenda by announcing more awards, finalizing contracts and grant agreements, and making sure these investments are reaching the American people. While the full effects won’t be realized for years to come, it’s clear that the Investing in America agenda – and its impacts on the economy, on communities, and on American families – is here to stay.

Biden Administration, Infrastructure, Joe Biden

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Celebrates Historic Progress in Rebuilding America on 3-Year Anniversary of Transformative Bipartisan Infrastructure Law


To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced over $568 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, including over 66,000 projects and awards in all 50 states, D.C., the territories, and Tribal Nations. That’s part of the 74,000 total clean energy and infrastructure projects funded so far under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, which also includes historic investments in clean air water, climate action, and semiconductor manufacturing © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

On the 3-Year anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,
President Joe Biden issued this statement and the White House issued a fact
sheet, outlining the extent of the projects and progress. How many were you
aware of?

To have the best economy in the world, you have to have the best infrastructure in the world. That’s why three years ago, I was proud to sign the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – the largest investment in our nation’s infrastructure in a generation. And when the bill passed, we showed that we can get big things done when we work together.

In just the three years since I signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, my Administration has launched over 66,000 projects across the country, repairing 196,000 miles of roads and 11,400 bridges, replacing 367,000 lead pipes, and expanding and modernizing ports and airports. And today, we’re investing an additional $1.5 billion in funding for rail investments along the Northeast Corridor – the most heavily trafficked rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day – five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York.

We’re doing all this with American workers and products that are made in America. These investments are creating jobs, benefitting our communities, and ushering in an infrastructure decade that is planting the seeds for a better and more prosperous future.

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Transforms Nation’s Infrastructure, Celebrates Historic Progress in Rebuilding America for the Three-Year Anniversary of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Over $695 billion in funding and over 74,000 projects announced thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

For far too long, this country’s infrastructure was under resourced and neglected, leading to crumbling roads and bridges, aging water systems, an unreliable electric grid, and inadequate high-speed internet access. Three years ago today, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure to reverse this trend, strengthen communities, and transform the U.S. economy. Since then, the Biden-Harris Administration has been breaking ground and cutting ribbons on projects in every state to rebuild roads and bridges, strengthening our supply chains, ensuring safe routes to schools, providing clean drinking water for communities, expanding high-speed internet access for all, and much more.

To date, the Administration has announced over $568 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, including over 66,000 projects and awards in all 50 states, D.C., the territories, and Tribal Nations. That’s part of the 74,000 total clean energy and infrastructure projects funded so far under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, which also includes historic investments in clean air water, climate action, and semiconductor manufacturing.

President Biden and Vice President Harris are delivering an Infrastructure Decade, unlocking access to economic opportunity, creating good-paying jobs, boosting domestic manufacturing, and growing America’s economy from the middle up and bottom out in every community across the country. His Investing in America agenda has improved the lives of millions of Americans and is planting the seeds for a better and more prosperous future for decades to come, including connecting everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service, replacing every lead pipe in the country and much more by the end of the decade.

HISTORIC PROGRESS BY THE NUMBERS

Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Administration has already:

  • Announced $568 billion for over 66,000 projects across the country;
  • Started improvements on over 196,000 miles of roads and launched over 11,400 bridge repair projects, increasing safety and reconnecting communities across the country;
  • Replaced 367,000 lead pipes, benefitting nearly 1 million people, with funding continuing to be deployed for more replacements;
  • Provided funding to deploy over 4,600 American-made transit buses, more than doubling their number on America’s roadways, and funded approximately over 8,900 clean school buses;
  • Delivered funding for over 580 port and waterway projects to strengthen supply chains, speed up the movement of goods, lower costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
  • Deployed investments in over 400 airport terminal projects to modernize and expand terminals—over 200 of which are under construction or complete;
  • Financed over 2,400 drinking water and wastewater projects across the country, including projects through the Indian Health Service that will deliver clean water to 100,000 Tribal households;
  • Launched over 6,000 projects to help communities build resilience to threats such as the impacts of climate change and cyber-attacks;
  • Provided funding to over 400 states, tribes, and territories and launched over 100 projects to improve the resilience and reliability of America’s electric grid and deliver cheaper and cleaner electricity—representing the largest single investment in electric transmission and distribution infrastructure in the history of the United States;
  • Funded nearly 2,400 projects for water recycling, storage, conservation, desalination, and other purposes to improve drought resilience across the West;
  • Removed hazardous fuel material from 18 million acres of land through the Infrastructure Law and other sources to protect communities from wildfires;
  • Plugged over 9,600 orphaned oil and gas wells to address legacy pollution;
  • Awarded funding to 95 previously unfunded Superfund projects, clearing a longstanding backlog of projects to clean up contaminated sites and advance environmental justice;
  • Provided funding to 180 programs that advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal clean energy, climate, and other investments flow to disadvantaged communities;
  • Created 940,000 construction jobs and construction employment is at a record high—higher than the previous peak before the Great Recession.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS ACROSS KEY SECTORS

The Biden-Harris Administration has made notable progress implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law across key sectors:

  • Roads and Bridges: Safe, modern transportation systems connect people to opportunity and critical destinations, bringing goods to market, bringing communities together, and enabling economic growth. That’s why President Biden secured the largest investment in transportation infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and major projects, since President Eisenhower’s investment in the Interstate Highway System. Since President Biden took office, improvements have started on over 196,000 miles of roads and over 11,400 bridge repair projects are underway – making our roadways safer and reconnecting communities across the country. This includes some of the most economically significant bridges in the country, like the Blatnik Bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota or the I-55 America’s River Crossing between Tennessee and Arkansas. The Infrastructure Law is also funding thousands of smaller bridge projects, many of which are already complete, like the Second Avenue Bridge in Detroit and the Montgomery Avenue Bridge in Philadelphia.
  • Rail: When President Biden took office, he laid out his vision to bring world-class passenger rail to the United States. That’s why the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $66 billion in rail, the largest investment in passenger rail since the inception of Amtrak and an unprecedented investment in rail safety. Projects are underway across the country to modernize the Northeast Corridor – the most heavily trafficked rail corridor in the United States – to build new high-speed rail service, improve the efficiency of freight rail service, and eliminate dangerous rail crossings. An additional $1.5 billion will be announced today from the Department of Transportation for rail investments to provide faster, safer, and more reliable service for travelers and commuters. For example, the Brightline West High Speed Rail project broke ground earlier this year, using $3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to connect Las Vegas and Southern California with 200-mile-per-hour zero emission train service and creating more than 35,000 jobs.
  • Airports: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $25 billion to modernize and upgrade airports and air traffic facilities nationwide, improving passenger experience through expanding capacity, increasing accessibility, and reducing delays. The Biden-Harris Administration has delivered funding for over 400 airport terminal projects to modernize and expand terminals – over 200 of which are under construction or complete­. This includes projects like the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Terminal Modernization project, where a new concourse was built with five new gates and upgraded waiting area was completed this year, and the San Diego International Airport Project, where construction is underway to build a new terminal with the addition of 30 gates, a five-story parking plaza, and roadway improvements. The Administration has also completed over 1,600 projects to upgrade and replace air traffic control towers to ensure the safe operation of the Nation’s airspace.
  • Ports and Waterways: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $17 billion to upgrade our nation’s ports and waterways. The Department of Transportation and Army Corps of Engineers have together funded over 580 port and waterway projects to strengthen supply chain reliability, speed up the movement of goods, reduce costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Major projects are already under construction, including at Montgomery Locks and Dam in Pennsylvania and Soo Locks in Michigan, which received a combined $1.65 billion to modernize and expand aging locks on key rivers that are lynchpins of national supply chains, keeping critical goods flowing and lowering costs for families. The Army Corps of Engineers has also invested $142 million to make the Port of Norfolk, Virginia, the deepest port on the East Coast, allowing enhanced navigation for larger commercial vessels. And today, the Department of Transportation is announcing nearly $580 million to increase capacity and efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports, and inland river ports.
  • Transit and School Buses: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in public transit ever, at nearly $90 billion – including billions to electrify or upgrade our bus, transit rail, and ferry fleets. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has deployed over 4,600 American-made transit buses and over 8,900 clean school buses in over 1,300 communities across the country, prioritizing disadvantaged communities. Through the Capital Investment Grant program, the Administration is funding long-awaited capital projects – like the Mill Plains BRT in Vancouver, Washington, that provides fast, reliable transit service, and which opened earlier this year; and the Phoenix Northwest Light Rail Extension, which is now complete and is expected to transport nearly 2 million Phoenix residents to new stations and employ transit-oriented development to develop new housing and retail along this route.
  • Clean Water: President Biden believes that every American should be able to turn on the tap and drink safe, clean water. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced over $40.3 billion to provide clean water across the country and improve water infrastructure, as part of the largest investment in clean water in U.S. history. This includes $9 billion announced so far toward President Biden’s commitment to replace every lead pipe within a decade. Under this Administration, 367,000 lead pipes have already been replaced, benefiting nearly 1 million people and protecting communities across the country from the irreversible health effects of lead exposure. To further accelerate lead pipe replacement, last month President Biden announced a new rule requiring water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within 10 years. Altogether, funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has financed 2,400 drinking water and wastewater projects across the country. For example, the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System has now completed the construction of 300 miles of water pipeline to deliver reliable clean water to 350,000 people in rural Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. In addition, the Biden-Harris Administration through the Department of Interior has funded 575 projects for water recycling, storage, conservation, desalination, and other purposes to improve drought resilience across the West. One project under construction is the B.F. Sisk Dam in California’s Central Valley, which has received over $210 million to fortify and expand the dam’s reservoir by 130,000 acre-feet, making it the largest addition of surface water storage currently underway in the country.
  • High-Speed Internet: Since President Biden took office, 2.4 million American homes and small businesses have been connected to high-speed internet for the first time, and construction has begun in 21 states on high-speed internet projects that will improve network resilience and connect rural and Tribal communities. For example, homes and small businesses in Eureka, Montana, are now being connected to fiber-based high-speed internet through a $12 million USDA project. The Biden-Administration has also provided funding to more than 281 Tribal governments to connect over 65,000 Tribal households with high-speed internet. In addition, Infrastructure Law funding has helped launch construction on middle mile networks that are building or upgrading over 3,200 miles of middle mile high-speed internet infrastructure across 15 states and territories. One example is the HERO Project in North Carolina, an $11 million project to construct over 200 miles of fiber through central and southeastern North Carolina, including around Fort Liberty, Pope Air Force Base, and Camp Lejeune, benefitting both civilian and military populations. The Administration also implemented new rules to expose internet junk fees, enabling 300 million Americans to shop for home and mobile internet plans that best meet their needs and budget.
  • Modernizing the Grid and Deploying Clean Energy: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes more than $62 billion in funding at the Department of Energy to advance our clean energy future by investing in clean energy demonstration and deployment projects, manufacturing technologies domestically, increasing U.S. competitiveness, making our power grid stronger and more resilient to extreme weather, and all while creating high-quality, good-paying union jobs and lowering costs for Americans across the nation. Since President Biden took office, the federal government has provided funding to over 400 states, Tribes, and territories and launched over 100 projects to improve the resilience and reliability of America’s electric grid and deliver cheaper and cleaner electricity—representing the largest single investment in electric transmission and distribution infrastructure in the history of the United States. For example, the Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue Transmission Study Process and Portfolio (JTIQ) project is coordinating the comprehensive planning, design, and construction of five transmission projects across seven Midwest states. Projects are also strengthening the grid locally and helping communities like Estes Park, CO to power through future severe weather events by installing an innovative battery storage project.
  • Resilience: Across the country, Americans are experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change. The Biden-Harris Administration has deployed $27.4 billion in funding towards an “all hazards” approach to protecting our infrastructure and communities from physical, climate, and cybersecurity-related threats. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has launched over 6,000 projects to help communities proactively build resilience to these threats before disasters strike. That includes protecting communities from wildfires by removing hazardous fuels from nearly 18 million acres of land through the Infrastructure Law and other sources, as well as funding projects to elevate or relocate over 3,500 homes and buildings outside of the reach of floodwaters, and creating a record wildland firefighting workforce of 16,700 with boosted pay.
  • Legacy Pollution: The Biden-Harris Administration is cleaning up the air, land, and water in communities that have been burdened by legacy pollution for far too long. Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has helped plug over 9,600 orphaned oil and gas wells that pollute communities with methane leaks. To date, the Administration has allocated funding to 95 previously unfunded Superfund site projects, including the longstanding backlog of projects, to clean up contaminated sites and advance environmental justice, leading to completed cleanups at 10 Superfund sites and 24 brownfield sites. For example, after decades of community advocacy, the Environmental Protection Agency has completed the cleanup of the Clearview Landfill Superfund project in Philadelphia’s Eastwick neighborhood, which will prevent toxins from leaching into the nearby Darby Creek.

DELIVERING PROJECTS QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY

To deliver on the promise of this historic legislation and deliver impact to communities and workers as soon as possible, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

  • Accelerated Federal Permitting: President Biden has been clear that the government can and must deliver more projects, more quickly. Through his Investing in America Agenda, he is delivering on that promise by accelerating project reviews while protecting communities and our environment. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to accelerate and improve the federal permitting process so that Americans across the country can benefit from the promise of the Investing in America agenda – including lowering energy costs for families and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs. The Administration has taken a three-prong approach. First, investing $1 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act funds to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews. Second, passing the first reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in 50 years and finalizing the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the federal environmental review process. And third, using executive authorities, wherever possible, to improve permitting and environmental review processes. Thanks to these actions, the Biden-Harris administration has cut six months off the median time it takes for agencies to complete the most extensive form of environment review, cut the average time it takes to complete a Department of Transportation environmental assessment by more than one-third, and expanded use of the fastest form of environmental review – categorical exclusions. Since the start of the Administration, over 15 federal agencies have developed, expanded, or adopted 125 categorical exclusions for projects with insignificant environmental impact in key sectors such as electric vehicle charging, broadband, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, and transmission.
  • Expanded Technical Assistance: In the past, too many communities have lacked the resources to access and deploy transformative Federal funding opportunities. The Biden-Harris Administration has made it a priority to help state, local, Tribal and territorial governments and other nongovernmental partners effectively navigate the historic funding provided through the Investing in America agenda. New technical assistance and capacity building programs like the Department of Transportation’s Thriving Communities, Environmental Protection Administration’s Get the Lead Out Initiative, and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Partners Network provide training, hands-on support, and expert assistance to communities across the country. The Administration has identified over 100 technical assistance programs to help would-be applicants with their planning and delivery needs—and has worked with philanthropy and civil society stakeholders to ensure that historically-underserved communities have the tools they need to take advantage of this historic opportunity.
  • Invested in Workforce: The Investing in America agenda is projected to create hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs for years to come that provide critical benefits and supportive services – many of which do not require a four-year college degree. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that all workers—including women, people of color, veterans, and those that have been historically left behind–have equitable access to those job opportunities and the training and skills needed to fill them. The Administration has launched nine Investing in America Workforce Hubs in Augusta, Baltimore, Columbus, Michigan, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and Upstate New York to build partnerships that train and connect Americans to these jobs in key sectors such as transportation, clean energy and manufacturing. In addition, the Administration has made unprecedented federal investments in these sectors. Since the President took office over $80 billion from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan have been committed to strengthen and expand the American workforce. These investments have bolstered Registered Apprenticeships resulting in the hiring of more than 1 million apprentices and deployed hundreds of millions of dollars to support for community college workforce training programs.
Biden Administration, Climate Action, Energy, Environmental Protection, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Deliver More Projects More Quickly, Accelerates Federal Permitting

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has deployed more than $560 billion in federal investments for over 68,000 projects across the nation, and the President has taken action to accelerate these projects by devoting long overdue resources to permitting and environmental reviews in order to deliver projects that deliver clean, renewable energy © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The Biden-Harris Administration has consistently been about getting things done, though rarely breaking through the media fog focused on the latest Trump scandal and outrage. This fact sheet on how Biden is accelerating infrastructure projects that address the urgent need to transition to clean energy and provide jobs is provided by the White House:

President Biden has been clear that the government can and must deliver more projects, more quickly. Through his Investing in America Agenda, he is delivering on that promise by accelerating project reviews while protecting communities and our environment.
 
To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has deployed more than $560 billion in federal investments for over 68,000 projects across the nation, and the President has taken action to accelerate these projects by devoting long overdue resources to permitting and environmental reviews.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to accelerate and improve the federal permitting process so that Americans across the country can benefit from the promise of the Investing in America agenda – including lowering energy costs for families and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs. The Administration has taken a three-prong approach. First, investing $1 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act funds to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews. Second, passing the first reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in 50 years and finalizing the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the federal environmental review process. And third, using executive authorities, wherever possible, to improve permitting and environmental review processes.
 
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing two new actions that will help build more projects, more quickly. 

  • The Bureau of Land Management is announcing a roadmap to support expanded solar energy production by making renewable energy siting and permitting on America’s public lands more efficient. This action will help expedite reviews of solar projects by steering them to areas with high solar potential and low wildlife and land conflicts, and ease burdens on solar developers. The Bureau of Land Management will make over 31 million acres of public lands across eleven western states available for solar development, helping to deliver clean power to millions of homes.
     
  • The Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the conditional approval of a new rule which will allow for new offsets to create clean air credits in Maricopa County. Companies with vehicle fleets can now generate credits by replacing or retrofitting diesel-burning vehicles with electric vehicles. Manufacturers or other new emitters can then purchase those credits to balance out their future emissions. This will allow the county, which is now a center of semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., to continue to build semiconductor fabs essential to our nation’s future and ensure that residents continue to have clean air.

 Delivering Results
 
The Administration’s actions to reform federal permitting have already delivered real results. New data from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and federal agencies demonstrates that the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering more projects, more quickly while being responsible stewards of the environment and protecting communities.
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has cut 6 months off the median time it takes for agencies to complete environmental impact statements, the most comprehensive form of environmental review, representing 16% in time savings compared to the previous Administration and we are continuing to make more improvements.
 
Data indicates that there are similar results across a number of key sectors: 

  • Clean Energy & Transmission: The Department of Energy has cut environmental review timelines by half for environmental impact statements compared to the prior Administration. In addition, DOE has completed 15% more environmental reviews compared to the previous Administration.  In addition, the Department of Energy has started implementing the Coordinated Interagency Authorization and Permits (CITAP) program which is expected to cut review times in half for transmission projects.
     
  • Transportation: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has cut the average time it takes to complete an environmental assessment by more than one third. DOT has also completed 20% more reviews compared to the prior Administration for projects requiring environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.
     
  • Offshore wind: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed environmental reviews for the nation’s first 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects; before President Biden took office there were zero complete. Because of the Administration’s progress on permitting the nation’s first offshore wind projects and leasing new areas, the total U.S. offshore wind project pipeline now exceeds 80 gigawatts, enough to power more than 26 million homes if fully developed.
     
  • Onshore renewable energy: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior has permitted more than twice as many clean energy projects on public lands than it did under the prior Administration. Together, these projects are expected to help power more than 12 million homes across the country.
     
  • Broadband: Across the federal government, agencies are processing more than twice as many permits for high-speed internet projects on federal lands and property as they did under the prior Administration. NTIA has established and adopted a total of 36 new categorical exclusions to streamline processes, including for historic preservation and threatened and endangered species compliance for broadband.

 Additionally, for projects with minimal environmental impacts, the Biden-Harris Administration has expanded use of the fastest form of environmental review – categorical exclusions. Since the start of the Administration, over 15 federal agencies have developed, expanded, or adopted 125 categorical exclusions for projects with insignificant environmental impact in key sectors such as EV charging, broadband, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, and transmission. This includes new categorical exclusions adopted using new permitting efficiencies passed by Congress in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.  
 
Federal agencies are using categorical exclusions to review the vast majority of project decisions, including 99% of federal highway decisions. This is an increase from the last time similar data was analyzed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that just 96% of Federal Highway Administration projects were processed by categorical exclusions. Other agencies are also utilizing categorical exclusions for the vast majority of projects including 99% of Department of Energy decisions, and 98% of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects decisions.
 
New Executive Actions to Accelerate Permitting
 
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken a number of steps in recent weeks to improve federal permitting processes to help advance projects critical to the President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.
 
Streamlining Historic Preservation Reviews: Earlier this month, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) proposed a Program Comment to accelerate historic preservation reviews for millions of clean energy, transportation, housing, and building projects over the next two decades. This action builds on steps that ACHP announced earlier this year to accelerate historic preservation reviews for broadband projects.
 
Accelerating Transmission Projects: The Biden-Harris Administration has started to implement the new Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) program which will help accelerate permitting for transmission projects to bring reviews down to a two-year timeline – twice as fast as the historical average of four years. A recent study of 33 projects found that had CITAP been in place from 2010 through 2020, it could have saved the equivalent of approximately 66 years in federal permitting time. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently opened the portal for transmission developers and project sponsors to apply for the CITAP program. In addition, the Department of Energy recently announced $371 million for 20 projects across 16 states to accelerate the siting and permitting of high-voltage interstate transmission projects and support community infrastructure projects.
 
Expanding Categorial Exclusions: In recent weeks, the U.S. Forest Service adopted 10 categorical exclusions that will accelerate its review of broadband projects. Data from the U.S. Forest Service indicates that these categorical exclusions will help streamline reviews for 100 broadband projects by 2027, thereby saving over $24 million in staff time per year and lead to a total reduction of over 20 years in processing time. In April the Bureau of Land Management adopted categorical exclusions to accelerate review of geothermal projects. And, earlier this month, the Department of Transportation announced a new categorical exclusion to help expedite reviews of projects dedicated to fixing older, leak-prone natural gas pipelines.
  
Modernizing NEPA Technology: Last month CEQ released new recommendations for using technology to modernize environmental reviews. In a new report to Congress CEQ evaluates permitting processes, include an analysis of 16 different agency technology tools and initiatives being advanced to improve the environmental review and permitting process.

Biden Administration, Infrastructure

Fact Sheet: Biden Announces $8.2 Billion to Deliver World-Class High-Speed Rail and Launch New Passenger Rail Corridors Across USA

$8.2 billion from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda are earmarked to deliver transformative passenger rail service in America © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The White House issued this fact sheet about the Biden Administration allocating $8.2 billion from the Investing in America Agenda to deliver transformative passenger rail service across the country.

President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda – a key pillar of Bidenomics – is delivering world class-infrastructure across the country, expanding access to economic opportunity, and creating good-paying jobs. By delivering $66 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak 50 years ago – President Biden is delivering on his vision to rebuild America and win the global competition for the 21st century.   

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing $8.2 billion in new funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country, including the first world-class high-speed rail projects in our country’s history. Key selected projects include: building a new high-speed rail system between California and Nevada, which will serve more than 11 million passengers annually; creating a high-speed rail line through California’s Central Valley to ultimately link Los Angeles and San Francisco, supporting travel with speeds up to 220 mph; delivering significant upgrades to frequently-traveled rail corridors in Virginia, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia; and upgrading and expanding capacity at Chicago Union Station in Illinois, one of the nation’s busiest rail hubs. These historic projects will create tens of thousands of good-paying, union jobs, unlock economic opportunity for communities across the country, and open up safe, comfortable, and climate-friendly travel options to get people to their destinations in a fraction of the time it takes to drive.

The Biden-Harris Administration is building out a pipeline of passenger rail projects in every region of the country in order to achieve the President’s vision of world-class passenger rail. Announced projects will add new passenger rail service to cities that have historically lacked access to America’s rail network, connecting residents to jobs, healthcare, and educational opportunities. Investments will repair aging rail infrastructure to increase train speeds, reduce delays, benefit freight rail supply chains to boost America’s economy, significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, and create good-paying union jobs. Additionally, electric high-speed rail trains will take millions of cars off the roads and reduce emissions, further cementing intercity rail as an environmentally-friendly alternative to flying or driving and saving time for millions of Americans. These investments will also create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs in construction and related industries – adding to over 100,000 jobs that the President is creating through historic investments in world-class rail.  

Today’s investment includes $8.2 billion through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program, as well as $34.5 million through the Corridor Identification and Development program to guide passenger rail development on 69 rail corridors across 44 states, ensuring that intercity rail projects are ready for implementation. President Biden will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to make this announcement.

To date, President Biden has announced $30 billion for rail projects across the country – including $16.4 billion on the Northeast Corridor, $1.4 billion for passenger rail and freight rail safety projects, and $570 million to upgrade or mitigate railroad crossings.

Fed-State National Project selections include:The Brightline West High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail System Project will receive up to $3 billion for a new 218-mile intercity passenger rail system between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Rancho Cucamonga, California. The project will create a new high-speed rail system, resulting in trip times of just over 2 hours – nearly twice as fast as driving. This route is expected to serve more than 11 million passengers annually, taking millions of cars off the road and, thanks to all-electric train sets, removing an estimated 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. This project will create 35,000 jobs supporting construction and support 1,000 permanent jobs in operations and maintenance once in service. Brightline’s agreement with the California State and Southern Nevada Building Trades will ensure that this project is built with good-paying union labor, and the project has reached a separate agreement with Rail Labor to employ union workers for its ongoing operations and maintenance. The project will also allow for connections to the Los Angeles Metro area via the Metrolink commuter rail system.
 The California Inaugural High-Speed Rail Service Project will receive up to $3.07 billion to help deliver high-speed rail service in California’s Central Valley by designing and extending the rail line between Bakersfield and Merced, procuring new high-speed trainsets, and constructing the Fresno station, which will connect communities to urban centers in Northern and Southern California.  This 171-mile rail corridor will support high-speed travel with speeds up to 220mph. The project will improve connectivity and increase travel options, along with providing more frequent passenger rail service, from the Central Valley to urban centers in northern and Southern California. New all-electric trainsets will produce zero emissions and be powered by 100% renewable energy. By separating passenger and freight lines, this project will benefit freight rail operations throughout California as well. This project has already created over 11,000 good-paying union construction jobs and has committed to using union labor for operations and maintenance.
 The Raleigh to Richmond (R2R) Innovating Rail Program Phases IA and II project will receive up to $1.1 billion to build approximately additional parts of the Southeast Corridor from Raleigh to Wake Forest, North Carolina, including new and upgraded track, eleven grade separations and closure of multiple at-grade crossings. The investment will improve system and service performance by developing a resilient and reliable passenger rail route that will also contribute to freight and supply chain resiliency in the southeastern U.S. The proposed project is part of a multi-phased effort to develop a new passenger rail route between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, and better connect the southern states to DC and the Northeast Corridor. Once completed, this new route will save passengers an estimated 90 minutes per trip.
 The Long Bridge project, part of the Transforming Rail in Virginia – Phase II program, will receive $729 million to construct a new two-track rail bridge over the Potomac River to expand passenger rail capacity between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. Nearly 6 million passengers travel over the existing bridge every year on Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express lines. This upgrade will reduce congestion and delays on this heavily-traveled corridor to our nation’s capital.Other significant projects receiving grants under this announcement include: upgrades to Chicago Union Station; upgrades to the Pennsylvania Keystone Corridor, extending the service west of Philadelphia-Harrisburg to Pittsburgh and adding frequencies; improving the Downeaster corridor in Maine, connecting Boston, Massachusetts, to Brunswick, Maine; rail infrastructure improvements in Montana along a route carrying Amtrak’s Empire Builder long-distance rail service between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest; and replacing a key rail bridge in Alaska used by freight and intercity passenger trains. 

Pipeline for Future Investments Through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID Program

As part of President Biden’s vision for world-class passenger rail, the Administration is planning for future rail growth in new and unprecedented ways through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-created Corridor ID Program. The program establishes a new planning framework for future investments, and corridor selections announced today stand to upgrade 15 existing rail routes, establish 47 extensions to existing and new conventional corridor routes, and advance 7 new high-speed rail projects, creating a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects ready for future investment.  

Project selections include:Scranton to New York, reviving a dormant rail corridor between Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, to provide up to three daily trips for commuters and other passengers;
 Colorado Front Range, a new rail corridor connecting Fort Collins, CO, and Pueblo, CO, to serve an area that currently has no passenger rail options;
 The Northern Lights Express, connecting Minneapolis, MN and Duluth, MN, with several stops in Wisconsin, for greater regional connectivity;
 Cascadia High-Speed Rail, a proposed new high-speed rail corridor linking Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver, with entirely new service;
 Charlotte to Atlanta, a new high-speed rail corridor linking the Southeast and providing connection to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the world;Major regional hubs will benefit from multiple corridor selections, such as the Chicago Hub, where a comprehensive plan for the Chicago terminal and service chokepoints south of Lake Michigan will benefit all corridors and long-distance trains south and east of Chicago. 

Other Rail Investments Made Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

After waiting years for new federal funding, 2023 is the year in which major rail and transit projects across the country are moving forward. Today’s announcement builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic commitment to our nation’s rail network. Major rail progress that has already been made under President Biden includes the following:Last month, FRA announced $16.4 billion for 25 passenger rail projects along the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the nation’s busiest rail corridor, running between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. The Northeast Corridor supports 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The trains carry five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York. Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program, projects will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays. These investments will also contribute to more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs in construction. You can read more about the 25 Fed-State NEC project selections and their benefits here.In addition to unprecedented passenger rail investment, the Biden-Harris Administration is making major investments in rail safety through track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, fewer grade crossings, upgrades on routes carrying hazardous materials, and enhanced multi-modal connections to increase safety for people who live near or travel along America’s rail lines:In September, FRA announced more than $1.4 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for 70 projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. This is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements — or CRISI — program. CRISI projects will improve nearly 1,900 miles of track, upgrade or replace aging bridges, invest in locomotives with fewer emissions, and fund sustainable and resilient infrastructure that protects against threats of extreme weather. Overall, nearly two-thirds of CRISI funding announced this year is going to rural communities. While the majority of selected projects support freight rail safety and supply chains, CRISI investments are also laying the groundwork to expand world-class passenger rail to more communities nationwide in places like Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi as well as Virginia, Massachusetts, and California. Additionally, the CRISI program provides funding to develop the U.S. rail workforce and industry. Funding for this popular program has quadrupled since President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
 In June 2023, FRA announced $570 million for 63 projects in 32 states under the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, created by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This inaugural round of funding will address more than 400 at-grade crossings nationwide, improve safety, and make it easier to get around railroad tracks by adding grade separations, closing at-grade crossings, and improving existing at-grade crossings where train tracks and roads intersect. Over each of the next four years, additional program funding will be made available annually.
 In November 2022, FRA granted $4.3 billion to Amtrak, which represents the first year of the $22 billion in direct funding to Amtrak provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Amtrak is using these funds to modernize the intercity passenger rail network, modernize and increase accessibility at more than 280 Amtrak-served stations across the country, and replace Amtrak’s existing fleet with over 1,000 accessible, comfortable, state-of-the-art railcars and locomotives. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Amtrak has invested nearly $3 billion in 750 projects across the country, including bringing 15 Amtrak stations to full ADA compliance. Through these investments, Amtrak has created nearly 5,000 jobs, including employing over 4,000 union workers.
 In August 2022, the FRA announced  $233 million in grants to upgrade intercity passenger rail service across the country through the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. These investments will help replace bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, many of which are over 100 years old. Grants were also awarded to improve rail infrastructure in California, Michigan, and Chicago Union Station.Map: Selections Through Fed-State National and Corridor ID Program
Biden Administration, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features, President Joe Biden

FACT SHEET: President Biden Advances Vision for World Class Passenger Rail by Delivering Billions in New Funding

This fact sheet from the White House describes how President Biden is using $16.4 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to repair and replace critical rail infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor, to provide faster and more reliable passenger rail service, and create more than 100,000 construction jobs:

Penn Station, New York, on the busy Northeast Corridor. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, with $66 billion investment in rail. Biden announced $16.4 billion in new funding for 25 passenger rail projects on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, moving the United States closer to his vision for world-class passenger rail.  The investments announced today will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays. Combined with Amtrak’s nearly $9 billion fleet replacement program, which will replace over 1,000 locomotives and coaches with state-of-the art and Made-in-America equipment, these investments will ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying. The funding will also contribute to more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs in construction. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Bidenomics and President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are tackling long-standing infrastructure needs, supporting communities nationwide, and making it possible to get people and goods where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, with a $66 billion total investment in rail. Today, President Biden is announcing $16.4 billion in new funding for 25 passenger rail projects on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, moving the United States closer to his vision for world-class passenger rail.  The investments announced today will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays. Combined with Amtrak’s nearly $9 billion fleet replacement program, which will replace over 1,000 locomotives and coaches with state-of-the art and Made-in-America equipment, these investments will ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying. The funding will also contribute to more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs in construction. President Biden will travel to Bear, Delaware to make the announcement.

The Northeast Corridor, running from Boston, MA, to Washington, DC, is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The trains carry five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York. Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor also emit up to 83% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to car travel and up to 72% less greenhouse gas emissions than flying. If the Northeast Corridor shut down for a single day, it would cost the economy $100 million in lost productivity. Despite its importance, the Corridor hasn’t seen major investment in generations. The Northeast Corridor that exists today is the product of investments that date back to the 1830s, and many of the existing bridges and tunnels were built in the early twentieth century. Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Northeast Corridor is finally on track to be rebuilt to meet the needs of 21st century travelers.

Today’s $16.4 billion announcement is through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant program, and reflects nearly $9 billion in FY 2022 and FY 2023 funds and $7.4 billion in future commitments through phased funding agreements.
Major awarded projects include:

Gateway Hudson River Tunnel (NY/NJ) will receive $3.8 billion in a phased funding agreement to rehabilitate and expand the Hudson River Tunnel between New York and New Jersey, which is over 100 years old, serves 200,000 passengers daily, and was damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The overall Gateway Hudson River Tunnel project will improve resiliency, reliability, and redundancy for New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Amtrak passengers traveling on the Northeast Corridor between New York and New Jersey. Combined with other investments, the total Biden Administration commitment to the tunnel project will be a record $11 billion. President Biden visited this project in January to announce a $292 million DOT MEGA program grant for the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, which supports the critical connection between the new Hudson River Tunnel and New York Penn Station. In June, the Hudson Tunnel Project received a $25 million grant through DOT’s RAISE program to support construction of the new tunnel portal through the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and utility relocation project in North Bergen, NJ. On Friday, Administration officials participated in a groundbreaking to officially begin construction on the New York side of the tunnel. The Hudson Tunnel Project is a critical component of the Gateway Program — a comprehensive rail investment program that will improve commuter and intercity services, add needed resiliency and create new capacity for the busiest section of the Northeast Corridor. The project is critical to the northeast regional economy — not only will the project generate $19 billion in economic activity over the Project’s construction period, addressing this critical chokepoint on the Northeast Corridor supports the $50 billion that workers riding on the NEC contribute to the economy annually.
 

  • Frederick Douglass Tunnel (MD) will receive $4.7 billion in a phased funding agreement to replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, increasing speeds from 30 mph to 110 mph and reducing delays on the entire Northeast Corridor. The tunnel’s tight curvature and steep incline requires trains to reduce speeds to 30 mph. These issues create chronic delays — more than 10% of weekday trains are delayed, and delays occur on 99% of weekdays. The tunnel is the largest Northeast Corridor bottleneck between Washington and New Jersey and a single point of failure for the roughly 24,000 Amtrak and Maryland Area Commuter (MARC) passengers who rely on it daily. The President visited this project in January to announce the signing of a project kickoff agreement between Amtrak and the State of Maryland and a Project Labor Agreement between Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council. Initial construction began in March of this year, and Amtrak recently awarded a contract for construction on the southern approach.
     
  • Susquehanna River Bridge (MD) will receive $2.1 billion in a phased funding agreement to replace an existing 100-year-old rail bridge with two new two-track spans that will allow speeds to increase from 90 mph to 125 mph, and improve reliability and trip times. Amtrak, the MARC rail and Norfolk Southern Railway use the bridge to transport both passengers and freight and therefore experiences a high volume of rail traffic. Roughly 19,000 passengers travel over the existing bridge every weekday. As part of this replacement project, the existing movable bridge will be replaced with high-level fixed bridges, which will also improve navigation for boats on the Susquehanna River.
     
  • Penn Station Access (NY) will receive $1.6 billion in a phased funding agreement to repair and rehabilitate 19 miles of the Amtrak-owned Hell Gate Line, including tracks, bridges, and signals. The project will introduce Metro-North service to Penn Station, increase Amtrak service, and the cut local transit travel time from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes. In addition to reducing travel times, New York MTA’s investment will create four new fully ADA-accessible rail stations, and the added service and reduced travel times will have significant benefits for low-income communities in the Bronx. This project is in active construction as of 2023.
     
  • The Connecticut River Bridge (CT) will receive $827 million to replace a 116-year-old bridge with a new modern, resilient movable bridge. Replacing the existing structure will increase reliability and safety, and rail speeds on the bridge will increase from 45 mph to 70 mph. This project is fully designed and set to begin construction in 2024.

Two planning studies are also included in the investment: one to examine opportunities to increase speeds and reduce travel time between Washington, D.C. and New York City, and one to study future infrastructure options to improve speed, resilience, performance, and capacity to support faster trains traveling on the Northeast Corridor through Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Each new awarded project – from the Frederick Douglass Tunnel to the Connecticut River Bridge – will improve travel times by addressing the delays associated with the constant maintenance and repair of old Northeast Corridor infrastructure. These delays are estimated to result in almost 245,000 train delay minutes annually, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding will support replacing infrastructure that could result in almost 110,000 delay minutes saved annually.

Creating Good-Paying Union Jobs

Across all Northeast Corridor projects, an agreement is in place between Amtrak and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) that ensures Amtrak’s large civil engineering construction projects will be performed under a collective bargaining agreement that addresses points such as wages, benefits, working conditions, and promoting diversity and veteran hiring in the construction trades. With this agreement, Amtrak and NABTU will promote a strong workforce pipeline to prevent work disruptions; contractors and subcontractors share Amtrak’s commitment to paying fair wages and benefits; and Amtrak and NABTU can move forward with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded projects with efficient labor-management relations.

Amtrak expects the Hudson River Tunnel project will result in 72,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction with union partnerships for job training. The Frederick Douglas Tunnel program is expected to generate 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, including approximately 20,000 construction jobs. Amtrak is investing more than $50 million in local workforce development and community investments, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to ensure that local workers in West Baltimore can access these jobs.

Progress for Other Rail Investments

After waiting years for new federal funding, 2023 is the year in which major rail and transit projects across the country are moving forward.

Today’s investment follows major investments in rail safety through track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, fewer grade crossings, upgrades on routes carrying hazardous materials, and enhanced multi-modal connections to keep people living near, working on, and who travel along America’s rail lines safer:

  •  Last month, FRA announced more than $1.4 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan infrastructure law for 70 rail improvement projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. This is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements — or CRISI — program. This popular program has quadrupled since the President signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. While the majority of selected projects support freight rail safety and supply chains, CRISI investments are also laying the groundwork to expand world-class passenger rail to more communities nationwide. For example, investments in Virginia will result in two new Amtrak round trips and three new commuter rail round trips on the RF&P corridor between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, VA — a critical link between Northeast and Southeast states — while also improving the fluidity of CSX’s freight network. In California, two additional daily round trips will be added to the Capitol Corridor between the cities of Sacramento and Roseville, and a project eliminating grade crossings in the Central Valley will bring high-speed rail one step closer to becoming a reality. At least $376 million, or 25 percent of the amounts appropriated, was made available for projects in rural areas. In addition to improving passenger rail service, the CRISI program provides funding to further develop workforce and industry in America around rail. For example, Amtrak will receive up to $8.8 million for a pilot apprenticeship training program to recruit and train new track foremen and inspectors in Pennsylvania.  
     
  • In June, FRA announced $570 million for 63 projects in 32 states under the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, or RCE, created by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This inaugural round of funding will address more than 400 at-grade crossings nationwide, improve safety, and make it easier to get around railroad tracks by adding grade separations, closing at-grade crossings, and improving existing at-grade crossings where train tracks and roads intersect. Over each of the next four years, additional RCE Program funding will be made available annually. Project selections for other grant programs that will improve freight rail safety and efficiency, strengthen supply chains, and expand the passenger rail network — representing billions of dollars in infrastructure law investments — will be announced in the coming months.
     
  • In 2022, the Biden Administration announced $233 million in grants to upgrade intercity passenger rail service across the country through the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. These investments will help replace bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, many of which are over 100 years old. Grants were also awarded to improve rail infrastructure in California, Michigan, and improving Chicago Union Station. 
     
  • On November 30, 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration granted $4.3 billion to Amtrak, which represents the first year of the $22 billion in direct funding to Amtrak provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Amtrak is using these funds to modernize the intercity passenger rail network, modernize and increase accessibility at more than 280 Amtrak-served stations across the country, and replace Amtrak’s existing fleet of over 1,000 railcars and locomotives with accessible, comfortable, state-of-the-art equipment. Portions of the new fleet will enter service in 2023, and over 525 new railcars and locomotives will begin service by the end of the decade. Amtrak debuted the design of the new “Airo” railcars in late 2022. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Amtrak has invested nearly $3 billion in 750 projects across the country. By the end of 2023, 15 Amtrak stations will have been brought to full ADA compliance, with 25 more upgraded with passenger information display stations. Through these investments, Amtrak has created nearly 5,000 jobs, including employing over 4,000 union workers.
     
  • Later this year, FRA will award billions from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for intercity passenger rail projects across the country under the Fed-State Partnership National Program. High-speed rail projects are eligible for funding from this program.  

 
Northeast Corridor Awarded Projects Map


Biden Administration, Federal Budget, Infrastructure, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: As President Biden Announces Historic Transportation Investments, Extreme House Republicans Try to Slash Infrastructure Funding

This fact sheet from the White House details Biden’s historic investments in transportation, while Congressional Republicans are using the threat of a government shutdown  to slash infrastructure funding.

President Biden wants to invest in America’s infrastructure, including passenger rail, but Republicans would cut funding that would impact making critical investments in improving the safety and efficiency of the Nation’s rail system and airspace, risking increased delays and cancellations due to outages and lost opportunities to improve safety, and undermine the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to promote innovations that would lower noise and emissions, improve efficiency, and help the industry keep flight costs under control © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, the United States is making historic investments in infrastructure needs so people and goods can get where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. Today, the President is announcing $16.4 billion for passenger rail projects from his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.
 
While the Biden-Harris Administration is trying to make travel faster, safer and more reliable, House Republicans are trying to make it slower, harder, and less safe.
 
House Republicans are turning their backs on their communities—both urban and rural—and undermining American infrastructure with an appropriations bill that guts funding for Amtrak and makes draconian cuts to transportation and infrastructure programs. As outlined in a Statement of Administration Policy, the President would veto this extreme bill that would slash support for infrastructure in communities across the country, while at the same time adding billions to the deficit with give-aways to wealthy tax cheats.
 
Extreme House Republicans’ bill to defund infrastructure is just the latest example of their brutal cuts that would hurt the American people—following failed attempts to cut investments in infrastructure in March, May, June, and September and to eliminate hundreds of border patrol officers and tens of thousands of Head Start slots for kids. Rather than putting forward these devastating cuts, House Republicans need to follow the lead of the Senate and get to work on a bipartisan funding agreement—and act immediately on the Administration’s supplemental funding requests for urgent national security and domestic needs.
 
Extreme House Republicans’ draconian infrastructure defunding bill would:

  • Severely reduce Amtrak service and undermine critical maintenance work by slashing Amtrak funding by $1 billion. This reduction in funding would require Amtrak to reduce most, if not all, long-distance services, reduce certain Northeast Corridor regional train frequencies, and reduce or defer nearly 400 capital projects across the country. The Northeast Corridor is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
     
  • Cut transit programs across the country with an 85% cut to the Capital Investment Grant program. This critical program funds projects that provide transformative benefits for communities across the Nation by expanding convenient and accessible transportation options—while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
     
  • Fail to make critical investments in improving the safety and efficiency of the Nation’s airspace, including by funding National Airspace System technology $500 million below the President’s Budget request, risking increased delays and cancellations due to outages and lost opportunities to improve safety.
     
  • Cut aviation research funding by over 20 percent, which would undermine the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to promote innovations that would lower noise and emissions, improve efficiency, and help the industry keep flight costs under control.

 
The same extreme bill includes deep cuts to housing programs, which would:

  • Result in 20,000 fewer affordable homes being constructed, rehabbed, or purchased in communities across the Nation due to a nearly 70% cut to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
     
  • Put 78,000 children at greater risk of lead exposure due a rescission of over $564 million for programs that mitigate housing-related risks of lead poisoning and other illnesses and hazards to lower income families, especially children.
Biden Administration, Build Back Better, Economic Development, Economic Policies, Economy

Bidenomics Is Working, Growing the Economy from the Middle Out and Bottom Up—Not the Top Down

Freight Train, Rochester New York. The Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda is rebuilding our infrastructure, including our roads and bridges, high-speed internet capacity, ports, and airports. This infrastructure is the necessary foundation for durable and shared economic growth. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 35,000 new projects have been awarded funding in communities all across the country. By requiring Made-in-America products when using federal funding to rebuild infrastructure, President Biden is not only investing in our country’s roads and bridges, but also a strong domestic manufacturing base © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

The June 2023 jobs report showed 497,000 more jobs created last month (twice the number anticipated) and wages up 6.4% – both indications of a strong, resilient economy and that ordinary, working Americans are doing well. Nonetheless, the stock market fell sharply over fears the Federal Reserve would continue to hike interest rates in order to tame the demon inflation by causing the labor market to weaken and take the steam out of wage growth. But the stock market is not the economy Americans live every day.

The Bidenomics agenda is driving investments in communities across the country – like billions of dollars for states to connect every American to high-speed internet, investments to rebuild roads and bridges, and investments to build a clean energy economy, boost domestic manufacturing, create jobs and lower costs for the American people.

Meanwhile, Republicans who voted against the historic investments of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and all efforts by the Biden Administration to promote a sustainable, resilient economic recovery that benefits all Americans, are actually, cynically, hypocritically taking credit for the marvelous infrastructure improvements like broadband and bridges, in their communities.

Despite GOP “voting no but still wanting the dough,” the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing to deliver investments, lower costs, and opportunity to hardworking Americans in every corner of the country.

In remarks in Chicago on June 28, President Biden declared, “Today, the U.S. has had the highest economic growth among the world’s leading economies since the pandemic. We’ve added over 13 million jobs, more jobs in two years than any President has added in a four-year term.
​
“And folks, that’s no accident. That’s Bidenomics in action.
 
“Bidenomics is about building the economy from the middle out and bottom up – not the top down by making three fundamental changes.

“First, making smart investments  in  America.  Second, educating and empowering American workers to grow the middle class. And third, promoting competition to lower costs and help small businesses.”

The White House provided this fact sheet outlining how Bidenomics is indeed working, giving the U.S. the strongest economy among the G7, and growing the economy sustainably, from the middle out and the bottom up, rather than the top-down “trickle down” con the Republicans have been hawking since Reagan.—Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office determined to rebuild our economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down—and that strategy is working. Even as they faced an immediate economic and public health crisis—with a raging pandemic, elevated unemployment, snarled supply chains, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses at risk of shuttering—the President and Vice President understood that it wouldn’t be enough to simply go back to the economy we had before the pandemic. That economy was saddled with longstanding challenges that held America back—including rising inequality and disinvestment from communities across the country.
 
President Biden recognized that some of those challenges were rooted in a failed trickle-down theory that supported slashing taxes for the wealthy and big corporations, shrinking public investment in critical priorities like infrastructure and education, and failing to safeguard market competition.

The President took office determined to move beyond these failed trickle-down policies and fundamentally change the economic direction of our country. His plan—Bidenomics—is rooted in the recognition that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up. It’s an economic vision centered around three key pillars:

  • Making smart public investments in America
  • Empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class
  • Promoting competition to lower costs and help entrepreneurs and small businesses thrive

While our work isn’t finished, Bidenomics is already delivering for the American people. Our economy has added more than 13 million jobs—including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs—and we’ve unleashed a manufacturing and clean energy boom. There were more than 10 million applications for new small businesses filed in 2021 and 2022—the strongest two years on record. America has seen the strongest growth since the pandemic of any leading economy in the world. Inflation has fallen for 11 straight months and has come down by more than half. And we have done it all while responsibly reducing the deficit.
 
None of this progress was an accident or inevitable—it has been a direct result of Bidenomics. And rather than taking us back to the failed trickle-down policies of the past, President Biden is committed to finishing the job and continuing to build an economy that finally works for working families—with better jobs, lower costs, and more opportunity.
 
Building More in America by Making Smart Public Investments
 
When President Biden came into office, public investment as a share of the economy had fallen from 7% in the 1960s to half that. A core tenet of Bidenomics is that targeted public investment can attract more private sector investment, rather than crowd it out. This is particularly true in sectors that are central to the long-term economic and national security interests of the United States—from improving our infrastructure, to semiconductors, to investing in clean energy and climate security.

The Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda is rebuilding our infrastructure, including our roads and bridges, high-speed internet capacity, ports, and airports. This infrastructure is the necessary foundation for durable and shared economic growth. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 35,000 new projects have been awarded funding in communities all across the country. By requiring Made-in-America products when using federal funding to rebuild infrastructure, President Biden is not only investing in our country’s roads and bridges, but also a strong domestic manufacturing base.
 
The President’s agenda is also investing in key industries that are critical to our national security and economic security, like producing more semiconductors in America. And it is investing in accelerating the clean energy economy to help achieve our climate goals, working with our global partners. This approach is creating millions of good-paying jobs, advancing American leadership in innovating next-generation technologies, and delivering for workers and communities. The President’s agenda is strengthening our clean energy supply chains by spurring new and expanded U.S. factories, including more than 150 battery plants and 50 solar plants already announced. In all, we’ve seen $490 billion in private investment commitments in 21st century industries since the President took office, and inflation-adjusted manufacturing construction spending has grown by nearly 100% in just two years. New data released just today shows the clean energy workforce added nearly 300,000 jobs in 2022 and clean energy jobs grew in every state in America, in part because of the investments in clean energy and manufacturing by the Biden-Harris Administration.

Empowering and Educating Workers to Grow the Middle Class
 
Bidenomics also recognizes that the benefits of a growing economy are only broadly shared when policies are designed to promote and empower workers. When the President took office, independent experts like the Congressional Budget Office were projecting that the unemployment rate wouldn’t fall below 4% until the end of 2025. But under Bidenomics, the unemployment rate fell below 4% four years before expectations and has stayed there for the past 18 months.
 
We’ve also seen record lows in unemployment for workers who have often been left behind in previous recoveries: with record low unemployment rates achieved under this Administration for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and people with disabilities—and a 70-year low for women. This strong labor market recovery has also led to better pay and working conditions. Inflation-adjusted income is up 3.5% since the President took office, and low-wage workers have seen the largest wage gains over the last year. Job satisfaction reached its highest level on record last year. And the prospect of good jobs has drawn people off the sidelines and into the workforce. In fact, the share of working-age Americans in the workforce hasn’t been higher in more than 20 years. This strong recovery will also provide durable benefits for years to come, in part by preventing the labor market scarring that sticks with workers for generations after a recession.

Empowering workers also means educating America’s workers—those with and without a four-year degree. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration is investing more in registered apprenticeships and career technical education programs than any previous Administration and continuing to fight for free universal pre-K and free community college.
 
And the President believes a critical tool for empowering workers is making it easier to join a union. The President is addressing a decades-long decline in unionization by supporting project labor agreements and collective bargaining. He asked the Vice President to lead the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment to drive action across the Administration to empower workers and support their right to join or form a union. Support for unions is the highest it’s been in more than half a century, and the labor movement is expanding to new companies and industries.

Promoting Competition to Lower Costs and Help Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Thrive
 
Bidenomics recognizes that for markets to function—and for workers and consumers to benefit—our economy requires healthy competition across sectors. After three-quarters of U.S. industries grew more concentrated in the two decades before President Biden took office, he understood that we needed a different approach. More competition means lower costs for consumers and higher wages for workers. And since taking office, the President has been delivering for the American people to lower prices, protect workers, and increase competition across the economy.
 
When the President took office, he signed an historic Executive Order on Competition, which “commits the federal government to full and aggressive enforcement of our antitrust laws.” That order identified 72 specific initiatives across government to promote competition—and it is paying off. In addition to enforcement, the Administration is lowering costs for consumers and creating opportunities for innovative new products to come to market—including from the millions of new small businesses around the country that have started during the Biden-Harris Administration.
 
For example, the Administration changed the rules so that hearing aids can be sold over-the-counter, instead of just via prescription. Previously, hearings aids could cost up to $5,000 per pair, but Americans can now get them for a few hundred dollars at a local convenience or electronics store. President Biden has signed legislation into law that will lower prescription drug costs for seniors and save taxpayers $160 billion over the next decade by giving Medicare the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. The Administration is also fighting to end junk fees—hidden charges that cost Americans’ tens of billions per year and rob the marketplace of the kind of transparency that is necessary for real competition. And the Administration is working toward cracking down on noncompete agreements, which currently limit as many as 30 million workers from switching to a new job in the same field.

Reducing the Deficit and Making the Wealthy and Big Corporations Pay Their Fair Share
 
President Biden has pursued this economic vision in a fiscally responsible way—in stark contrast to the Congressional Republican approach. His predecessor enacted the latest version of trickle-down and the result was predictable: his tax giveaway added trillions to deficits, never trickled down to workers, and led to continued offshoring of jobs and profits. In recent weeks, House Republicans have doubled down on this approach—rolling out proposals to enact massive tax cuts for large corporations, including oil companies that made $200 billion in profit last year, while setting the stage for trillions in tax cuts skewed to the wealthiest Americans, delivering a $175,000 average annual tax cut to the top 0.1% (incomes over $4 million). Their view of “fiscal responsibility” is massive cuts to programs that millions of Americans count on, with the Republican Study Committee—which speaks for more than three quarters of House Republicans—recently releasing a plan to raise the Social Security retirement age to 69, eliminate the Medicare prescription drug savings that President Biden has signed into law, raise premiums for seniors on Medicare, and slash Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, food assistance, and Pell Grants.
 
President Biden believes in a fundamentally different approach. Under Bidenomics, he has proven that we can make smart investments in the American people while reducing the deficit by ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes, closing wasteful tax loopholes, and slashing wasteful spending on special interests.

During his first two years, the President presided over $1.7 trillion in deficit reduction—a larger reduction than under any other President in American history. He has signed legislation into law to reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, including by ensuring the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations pay their fair share, cracking down on wealthy tax cheats, and lowering prescription drug costs for the American people by cutting wasteful giveaways to Big Pharma. And his Budget would reduce the deficit by another more than $2.5 trillion over the next decade with additional reforms, including requiring the wealthiest Americans and the largest multinational corporations to pay at least the tax rates that many middle-class families do.
 
Unlike House Republicans—whose plans would harm hard-working families—the President has proposed cutting taxes for working people and families with children by almost $800 billion over the next 10 years, including cutting taxes by an average of $2,600 for 39 million families that include 62 million children by expanding the Child Tax Credit, cutting taxes by an average of $800 for 19 million working individuals or couples by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and continuing Premium Tax Credit plus-ups that are cutting health care premiums by an average of $800 for nearly 15 million people.

Biden Administration, Climate Action, Climate Change, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Makes Historic Investments to Build Community Climate Resilience

Mendocino, California. President Biden went to California to tour a coastal community that is working to safeguard their natural infrastructure – highlighting both the urgency of taking bold climate action and strengthening America’s resilience. © Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Over the past two years, more than 100 million Americans have been personally affected by an extreme weather event. The record-shattering heat wave that hit Puerto Rico earlier this month, recent wildfire smoke that blanketed the Midwest and East Coast, and devastating storms in California, are just the latest evidence that climate change is not a far-off threat. It’s a crisis that’s here now. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris understand that to protect lives and livelihoods, we need to both slash emissions and give Americans the tools they need to prepare for the growing impacts of climate change.

That is why President Biden went to California to tour a coastal community that is working to safeguard their natural infrastructure – highlighting both the urgency of taking bold climate action and strengthening America’s resilience. During his visit, he previewed the Biden-Harris Administration’s latest actions to help communities adapt to the changing climate.

Through the President’s historic Investing in America agenda, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched a first-ever $575 million Climate Resilience Regional Challenge to help coastal and Great Lakes communities, including Tribal communities in those regions, become more resilient to extreme weather and other impacts of the climate crisis. The funding will support innovative coastal resilience and adaptation solutions, such as building natural infrastructure, planning and preparing for community-led relocation, and protecting public access to coastal natural resources, that protect communities and ecosystems from sea level rise, tidal flooding hurricanes, storm surge, among other severe climate impacts. The Challenge is part of the $2.6 billion in resilience funding for NOAA included in the Inflation Reduction Act, and is part of the President’s Justice40 Initiative.

In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $2.3 billion in states, Territories, Tribes, and the District of Columbia over the next five years to bolster grid resilience across the country. As part of this investment, California is set to receive $67.4 million in the coming days, with the ability to apply for additional funding in the future, to modernize its electric grid to reduce impacts from extreme weather, natural disasters, and wildfires, and to ensure the reliability of the state’s power sector.

The Biden-Harris Administration knows that effective climate resilience strategies must be locally tailored and community-driven. That is why the President is also announcing that later this year, he will bring together state, local, Tribal, and Territorial leaders – who are managing the lived impacts of climate change every day – for a White House Summit on Building Climate Resilient Communities. As part of the Summit, the Biden-Harris Administration will release a new National Climate Resilience Framework designed to advance U.S. Government actions, in alignment with non-Federal efforts, towards a shared vision of a climate-resilient nation.

These announcements build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented commitment to strengthening America’s climate resilience.

Investing in Climate Resilience and Adaptation
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is building communities that are not only resilient to the impacts of a changing climate, but also safer, more equitable, and economically stronger. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act together invest more than $50 billion in climate resilience and adaptation. This historic level of funding is already delivering real-world benefits while creating high-quality jobs that provide opportunities to community residents and offer a free and fair choice to join a union. The President’s investments are upgrading aging roads and bridges, providing tax credits for families to add more efficient appliances to their homes, restoring critical waterways, forests, and urban greenspaces, supporting resilient and climate-smart agriculture, bolstering water infrastructure across the American West, modernizing our electric grid, and funding research to develop the latest energy-storage technologies here in America.

Enhancing Drought Resilience Across the West
The Biden-Harris Administration is leading a whole-of-government effort to support drought-prone communities address the ongoing megadrought in the West. The Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law together include $15.4 billion to enhance drought resilience. Earlier this year, under President Biden’s leadership, the Department of the Interior and the seven Colorado River Basin states united around a historic consensus-based agreement to conserve water resources in the critical Colorado River System. 

Combating the Growing Threat of Wildfires
In addition to implementing a 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy that will limit the impact and severity of fires in coming years, the Administration is helping communities prepare for and respond to wildfires right now. Recent actions include investing $7 billion to expand the wildland firefighter workforce, remove hazardous fuels from millions of acres of forest, and bring online new technology to better locate and respond to fires. The Administration also launched a new Community Wildfire Defense Grant program that helps local communities develop and implement wildfire preparedness plans. In addition, the Administration is tackling the pronounced health effects of wildfire smoke. AirNow.gov and its specialized Fire and Smoke Map provide Americans with real-time information about smoke and air quality so people can make informed decisions about how to stay safe. The Environmental Protection Agency recently made $10 million available to support wildfire smoke preparedness in community buildings, and awarded an additional $9 million for strategies to reduce smoke impacts.

Protecting Communities from Extreme Heat
The Biden-Harris Administration is saving lives by reducing exposure to extreme heat events. Community investments through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are reducing cooling costs and funding cooling centers in public facilities. The U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program recently announced $1 billion in grants to expand equitable access to trees and green spaces in urban communities, which will reduce heat-island effects and slash heating and cooling costs for residents. To better equip local officials and the public with robust and accessible information, the Administration launched Heat.gov, a centralized portal with real-time, interactive data and resources on extreme heat conditions, preparedness, and response.

Reducing Flood Risk for Households and Communities
Most homeowners’ and renters’ insurance does not cover flood damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program is helping communities proactively protect their homes, businesses, and belongings from unexpected flood damage. This includes providing guidance to communities on how they can mitigate their flood risk. President Biden also reinstated the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, which ensures that Federal agencies are considering and managing current and future flood risks in order to build a more resilient nation.

Promoting Climate-Smart Buildings and Infrastructure
Buildings and infrastructure investments last for generations when done right, so it is critical to plan and build in ways that promote long-term decarbonization and climate resilience. President Biden’s National Initiative to Advance Building Codes is accelerating adoption of modern building codes that protect people from extreme-weather events and save communities an estimated $1.6 billion a year in avoided damages. The Administration is also making billions of dollars available to build climate-smart buildings and green infrastructure, through programs as such the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, and the Department of Transportation’s PROTECT program.
 
Incorporating Climate Risk into Decision-Making
Extreme weather related to climate change threatens the U.S. economy and the financial security of families, businesses, and workers. President Biden’s Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk ensures that climate risk and resilience actions are appropriately factored into the formulation and execution of the President’s Budget, thereby properly managing and protecting Federal funding on behalf of taxpayers. This includes formally accounting for the risks that climate change pose in the President’s Budget for the first time.
 
Advancing Environmental Justice
The most severe harms from climate change fall disproportionately on communities that are least able to prepare for, and recover from, those harms. President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative makes it a goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments, including investments in climate resilience, flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution. The President’s Executive Order on Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All directs agencies to better protect overburdened communities from pollution and environmental harms, including climate change. President Biden also created a White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council to ensure that the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of communities with environmental justice concerns are heard in the White House and reflected in Federal policies. The Council includes a working group focused on climate resilience.
 
Supporting and Learning from Tribal Communities
Climate change has a disproportionate impact on Tribal communities and heritage, and Tribal representation is key to climate resilience efforts. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides more than $200 million to support voluntary, community-led transition and relocation for Tribal communities severely threatened by climate change and accelerating coastal hazards. The Inflation Reduction Act includes Tribal-specific funding to support climate resilience and adaptation in Native communities. The Administration has also issued government-wide guidance and an accompanying implementation memorandum for Federal agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision making.
 
Prioritizing Health and Safety
Climate and health outcomes are increasingly and inextricably linked. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, climate change is worsening asthma, cardiovascular disease, pest- and water-borne diseases, and other adverse health outcomes and chronic health conditions. President Biden established the first-ever Office of Climate Change and Health Equity in the Department of Health and Human Services to address the impact of climate change on the health of the American people. The Department’s Climate and Health Outlook index provides public data on climate and health projections to inform health professionals and the public.
 
Empowering Communities to Better Understand and Plan for Climate Risk
The Biden-Harris Administration is advancing actionable data, information, tools, and technical assistance to help people understand and address their climate risks. Specific steps include developing the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) tool to help communities understand and plan for local climate-related hazards; updating sea-level rise scenarios for all U.S. states and territories (Sea Level Rise Viewer) so communities can easily assess changes in coastal flood risk; creating the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) to help identify communities that will benefit from programs included in the Justice40 Initiative; developing an action plan to ensure that Federal agencies are producing coordinated, actionable climate information for end users; and increasing support for regional applied science and services centers, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Climate Hubs.

Harnessing the Power of Nature
Nature holds some of our best solutions to fight climate change and support communities’ adaptation to climate-related risks. Healthy forests, wetlands, and grasslands can also slow climate change by capturing and storing carbon dioxide. The Administration is taking bold action to ensure we look to nature and fully deploy nature-based solutions by setting the first national conservation goal through the America the Beautiful Initiative, to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, launching the America the Beautiful Challenge, which provided $91 million in funds in the first year to protect and restore biodiversity, help achieve our climate goals, and ensure all Americans have access to nature, and improving forest health through President Biden’s Executive Order on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.

Biden Administration, Economic Development, Environment, Environmental Protection, Health Care, News & Photo Features

FACT SHEET: Historic Biden Administration Investments in Water Infrastructure, Lead Pipe Replacement Are Creating New Domestic Manufacturing Jobs

Major US manufacturers committing to new investments and hiring in response to historic $50B investment in water infrastructure from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda

 
Senior executives from major U.S.-based manufacturers and distributors of water infrastructure parts joined senior Biden-Harris Administration officials at the White House to announce new private sector investments spurred by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes a more than $50 billion investment in the nation’s water infrastructure – including $15 billion set-aside for lead service line replacement. This historic investment represents a transformational increase in federal investment in the nation’s drinking water infrastructure over the next five years. By requiring Made in-America products when using federal funding to rebuild infrastructure, President Biden is not only investing in fixing our country’s water systems and replacing lead pipes, but also creating good-paying jobs and new domestic manufacturing.
 
To meet the increased demand for American-made water products, American manufacturers are stepping up their production capacity with new investments, creating jobs and American industrial capacity in the process. Administration officials have also emphasized the importance of collaborating with unions to ensure these investments build the middle class from the middle out and bottom up, not top-down.
 
This week, the following firms announced tens of millions in new manufacturing investments and hiring commitments:

  • A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. is an Iowa-based 167-year-old 5th generation family business with three manufacturing locations in Iowa, and Tennessee, with plans underway to build a state-of-the-art brass foundry in Wisconsin. Since the beginning of 2019, A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. has doubled the manufacturing space of their Tennessee facility with a 100,000 square feet addition and has undertaken the largest capacity expansion in the company’s history having invested millions of dollars in new machinery and automation. Their production workforce has grown 45% since the end of 2020.  In addition, parent company A.Y. McDonald Industries built a 100,000 square foot warehouse to house finished goods and maintenance supplies to free up additional manufacturing space in the 3 existing A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. factories.  
     
  • Cerro Flow Products, an Illinois-based pipe manufacturer that is part of the Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway Group – has 100% domestic manufacturing facilities and is currently looking to hire 23 individuals for good-paying union jobs as soon as possible at their Sauget facility. Cerro is also standing ready to add additional shifts at their primary mill, as well as utilize additional manufacturing capabilities at other Cerro sites as demand for water products increases due to federal investments. Cerro has also invested in new workforce development programs, additional upskilling for maintenance and electrical staff, and sponsors a tuition reimbursement program unique to the industry. 
     
  • Commercial Forged Products, an Illinois based company that does not normally make water parts, plans to invest $9 million in additional forging and ancillary equipment, while adding 15 new United Steelworker positions across multiple shifts, as well as hire 4 additional skilled machinists in its Bedford Park facility.
     
  • The Ford Meter Box Company, an Indiana-based company, is expanding its production capacity to meet private and public waterworks infrastructure demand in the long term, as well as lead service line replacement project needs in the near term. Ford has hired 40 new employees already this year, added new shifts, and invested in new equipment, all of which will increase production by 20%.  The construction of a new 300,000 sq. ft. state of the art foundry will be announced this summer, pending final site selection. The new facility, along with committed downstream manufacturing investment, will increase production an additional 42%. This nine-figure manufacturing investment is the largest expansion project in the company’s 125-year history. Additionally, the continued pursuit of a complementary “investment in people” includes a Manufacturing Support Specialist Program, a two-year training program to advance employees into salaried manufacturing, support, and administrative positions.
     
  • Mueller Water Products, an Atlanta-based company, has invested  approximately $150 million in three capital projects in recent years, expanding its U.S. production capacity due in part to the billions of dollars in water infrastructure investments made in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The largest capital project is a new brass foundry located in Decatur, Illinois, which will significantly expand its capacity to produce products, including those commonly used in lead service line replacements. The new foundry, which will replace an existing aging facility, uses a state-of-the-art brass alloy to eliminate dependence on imported Bismuth from China and increases recyclability.  The new foundry – expected to be fully online by 2024 and employ United Steelworkers – and other production improvements are also expected to increase Mueller’s production capacity for brass and other water infrastructure products. Mueller already employs about 465 United Steelworkers in Decatur, and the firm’s investments will help replace 100% of lead service lines and deploy the largest single investment in U.S. water infrastructure.
     
  • Quality Steel Products, a Michigan-based firm that previously did not make components in the water space, has committed to expand its business to meet upcoming demand by adding employees and additional shifts, investing millions of dollars in new forging presses and equipment, induction furnaces, transformers and capital improvement process.

Through historic levels of funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan, annual appropriations, and harnessing a variety of tools across federal, state, and local government, the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering tangible progress on the groundbreaking Biden-Harris Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan to replace all lead service lines in America in the next decade.
 
All Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments are subject to the Build America, Buy America Act, which requires iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials used in infrastructure projects to be produced in the United States. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is revitalizing American manufacturing, including in once hollowed out communities, and creating good-paying jobs across the country. Under President Biden’s manufacturing boom, nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs have been created, and private sector companies have announced over $480 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments since President Biden took office. This week’s announcements provide further evidence his approach to industrial policy is creating good jobs and rebuilding our manufacturing capacity while ensuring every family can access clean, safe drinking water.