Infra Insight Blog

As anticipated by project sponsors and industry participants, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued a temporary waiver of Buy America requirements for construction materials on May 19, 2022.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expanded the applicability of Buy America and required the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to promulgate guidance extending the current Buy America requirements regarding iron and steel and manufactured products to include construction materials, as well. OMB issued initial IIJA-implementing guidance effective ...

The Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) recently issued initial Buy America implementation guidance required by Sections 70901-52 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58; “IIJA”).

The Buy America preference applies to federally supported public infrastructure projects, including the structures, facilities and equipment for highway, transit, water and energy projects in the United States ...

Transit authorities across the nation rely on the Capital Investments Grants (“CIG”) program administered by the Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”) to fund major capital expenses for expansion and core capacity projects. The CIG program is codified at 49 U.S.C. § 5309, and FTA currently administers the program in accordance with its “Final Interim Policy Guidance” published in June 2016.

The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (P.L. 117-58; “IIJA”) amended the CIG program statute. Consequently, FTA has prepared initial guidance on ...

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or “IIJA” (P.L. 117-58) passed on a bipartisan basis in both the House and Senate and was signed by the President one month ago today, on November 15, 2021. One could have assumed that federal agencies would begin allocating the new funding and commence implementation of the IIJA as soon as it became effective. Unfortunately, that is not the case, but for reasons that may not be readily apparent.

The federal government is actually constrained in its ability to implement the IIJA because it is currently funded and operating under a ...

Yesterday, the Senate released legislative text for its highly anticipated bipartisan infrastructure package, titled the ­­­­­­­­Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Negotiations have been ongoing for months, and while several political and policy hurdles remain before this proposal can arrive on the President’s desk for his signature, agreement on this bipartisan package is a hugely positive development. Project sponsors and practitioners have closely tracked the development of this package not only with respect to overall funding levels and policies but ...

The President unveiled details of his historic infrastructure plan this morning, proposing the largest infrastructure investment in U.S. history.

The President’s proposal, titled the American Jobs Plan, requests roughly $2 trillion in total federal funding and financing tools over the next eight years:

• $621 billion for transportation infrastructure and resilience, including:
  • $115 billion for bridges, highways, roads and main streets
  • $20 billion for road safety
  • $85 billion for transit
  • $80 billion for Amtrak
  • $174 billion for electrifying vehicles
  • $25 billion for airports ...

Ever since both 2016 presidential candidates made infrastructure investment a core component of each of their platforms, we have been waiting for a significant infusion of federal funds to modernize our aging bridges, highways, and transit systems. One of the few remaining bipartisan issues, members of both political parties had high hopes that a large infrastructure bill would be possible. While this has yet to materialize, the Senate, House, and Administration have all taken steps to advance the ball. But with the current transportation law—the Fixing America’s Surface ...

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently penned a Dear Colleague letter regarding the Agency’s implementation of the Capital Investment Grants Program, stating that FTA will consider federal loans or financing tools in the context of all federal funding sources for a project, implying that such financing assistance will be calculated as part of a transit project’s federal share. Other modal agencies consider federal loan programs, such as TIFIA or RRIF, to be part of a project’s non-federal share.[1]

The letter has caused a significant amount of discussion in the ...

Sponsors of critical maritime transportation projects received welcome news this week, as the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for America’s Marine Highway Projects. This notice makes available roughly $7 million in recently-appropriated funds for the Short Sea Transportation Program (46 U.S.C. § 55601), commonly referred to as America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP).

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) is in charge of this important, but perhaps not well-known, program:  The America’s Marine Highway ...

The White House released its long-awaited infrastructure proposal to Congress this morning, along with the President’s fiscal year 2019 budget proposal. While elements have been hinted at and leaked before, the 55-page document released today provides significant new details. Though the Administration began to advance discrete priorities by executive action this past year, this broad proposal will require legislation. The Administration has opted to leave to Congress the drafting of the bill, just as it did with tax reform.

The White House proposal includes:

• Creation of new ...

On December 21, 2017, the City and County of Denver and Denver Great Hall LLC  reached financial close on the $1.8 billion Jeppesen Terminal redevelopment project (Great Hall Project) at Denver International Airport.

Following on the heels of Denver City Council’s approval of the Development Agreement and commercial close in August 2017, this represents a critical milestone in Denver International Airport’s plans to upgrade its signature terminal for the post-9/11 era by, among other things, relocating and modernizing its security screening areas and improving the ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is calling for project applications for $850 million in transportation infrastructure grants, representing the second opportunity for funding from a program that has already received tremendous interest from public project sponsors and the infrastructure community. The grants, announced in a Notice of Funding Opportunity posted on the USDOT website on October 28, find their genesis and funding authorization in the FAST Act (P.L. 114-94), which President Obama signed into law on December 4, 2015.

The FAST Act created a ...

Public agencies with toll-setting authority should take note of a recent federal court decision relating to the uses of user fees and toll revenue, as well as the stated goals of the plaintiff in that case.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York recently clarified the constitutional uses of toll revenue in American Trucking Associations v. New York State Thruway Authority, 13 Civ. 8123 (CM) (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 10, 2016). In this case, commercial trucking companies and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) claimed that the New York State Thruway Authority ...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, senior Department staff, and even an official from the White House gathered at U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters on July 20th to celebrate the grand opening of the Build America Bureau. After sharing a cake emblazoned with its logo, the dignitaries led a tour through the Bureau’s new office space in what used to be the library, replete with glass offices, motorized desks, and curved computer monitors. Compared to the cubical-farm offices of the modal administrations, the Bureau is clearly something different and new, and ...

Public entities have recently been looking for new ways to harness right of way (ROW) for broadband public-private partnership (P3) projects.  Last year, the city of Santa Cruz made history by entering into a roughly $50 million P3 with local Internet service provider Cruzio to deliver 1-gigabit broadband access to every property in the city’s jurisdiction.  Construction began this month.  San Francisco is now considering pursuit of a similar P3.  On the other side of the country, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) recently released requests for proposals for legal and ...