ESG – $1.2 Trillion Hard Infrastructure Bill Becomes Law with Many Positive ESG Features

On November 6, 2021, the House of Representatives passed what has been referred to as the $1.2 Trillion Dollar “hard” infrastructure bill by a vote of 228-206. Thereafter, later in November, President Biden signed this Bill into law.

The Hard Infrastructure bill includes $550 Billion in new spending focusing on the areas of:

> $110 billion toward roads, bridges and other infrastructure upgrades across the country;

> $40 billion is new funding for bridge repair, replacement, and rehabilitation and $17.5 billion is for major projects;

> $73 billion for the country’s electric grid and power structures, including new transmission lines;

> $66 billion for rail services including expanding high-speed rail to new areas;

> $65 billion for  broadband access and infrastructure;

> $55 billion for water infrastructure;

> $21 billion in environmental remediation;

> $47 billion for flooding and coastal resiliency as well as “climate resiliency,” including protections against wild fires;

> $39 billion to modernize public transit, which is the largest federal investment in public transit in history;

> $25 billion for airports;

> $17 billion in port infrastructure;

> $11 billion in transportation safety programs;

> $7.5 billion for electric vehicles and EV charging stations and infrastructure;

> $2.5 billion in zero-emission buses;

> $2.5 billion in low-emission buses; and

> $2.5 billion for ferries.

We will continue to focus on the specifics of the various spending packages and will look to report back as details become more visible. Additionally, the CBO has reported back on the Build Back Better second Infrastructure package Reconciliation Bill to enable the bill to likely be voted on when Congress is back in session.

Triple Bottom Line – While it is sometimes easy to be cynical about our collective will power to invest in hard and soft infrastructure projects, in this instance, real dollars are being committed to upgrades that will have broad ranging positive impacts on many communities and lead to job creation for design, build and operating type jobs for these sectors as well as result in positive (or less-negative) effects on our environment.

Duane Morris has an active ESG and Sustainability Team to help organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and execute on Sustainability and ESG planning and initiatives within their own space. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. For more information, or if you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Hari Kumar, or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

© 2009- Duane Morris LLP. Duane Morris is a registered service mark of Duane Morris LLP.

The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

Proudly powered by WordPress