Highlighting Important Environmental Decisions: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
The term infrastructure often brings up images of man-made structures in urban areas. However, infrastructure also includes natural infrastructure such as “healthy, functioning ecosystems that deliver clean air and clean water, support wildlife, sequester carbon, and are less prone to the effects of catastrophic wildfire.” (1) The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (aka the Bipartisan Instrastructure Law), signed into law by President Biden on November 15, 2021, provides a massive amount of funding for both man-made and natural infrastructure. (2) A critical question to ask is whether the projects the law funds are truly effective and support the communities who need it most.
One of the main focuses of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is to expand access to clean, safe water throughout the country. (3) According to the EPA, there are still 6 to 10 million lead service lines in cities and towns throughout the country, and many are in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. 4 In an effort to remedy this problem and many others, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $11.7 billion to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), $15 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Lead Service Line Replacement, $4 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants, and $5 billion to Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Grants to address emerging contaminants. (5) On top of this, the law provides $1 billion to the Clean Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants so that wild spaces are cleaner and more people can recreate in their waters. (6) Additionally, the law provides funding to protect regional waters and to ensure that they continue to serve as vital economic and recreational assets for future generations. (7) It gives $1.7 billion for geographic programs and $267 million for the National Estuary Program, Gulf Hypoxia Program, and more. (8)
Another focus of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is to fund projects that clean up longstanding pollution and redevelop communities. 9 For example, it gives $3.5 billion for Superfund cleanup, $1.5 billion to community-led brownfield cleanup, $350 million for Solid Waste and Recycling Grants, and $25 million for battery recycling. 10 It also gives $100 million for the Pollution Prevention Program, which allows businesses to get assistance in reducing toxic pollutants, cutting water usage, improving efficiency, and lowering costs. (11)
Based on the funding allocations, another priority of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is to support federal land management agencies in preventing and controlling wildfires and performing post-fire restoration. 12 For example, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides the United States Forest Service (FS) with $5.5 billion to increase its capacity to improve wildland fire management and to repair infrastructure across national forests and grasslands. (13) $3 billion of this funding will be invested over five years to reduce wildland fire risk and restore ecosystems, while $918 million of this funding will be invested in new dam and flood prevention projects and repairing watershed instrastructure. (14) Activities include increasing base firefighter salary, helping repair recreation cabins and historic buildings, helping repair highly impacted recreation sites, performing post-fire restoration, and performing fire mitigation and prevention. (15)
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also gives $103 million to Department of the Interior offices such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to mitigate wildfires and build wildfire resilience. (16) Of this, about $100 million will go to accelerating the pace and scale of fuels management work and post-wildfire habitat recovery. (17) The funding also supports the creation of a wildfire mapping and mitigation tool and a joint wildfire research project with the FS called the Joint Fire Science Program. (18) The funding helps the BLM to increase firefighter salaries, get more funding for fuels treatment, carry out restoration projects, and reclaim orphaned wells. (19)
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also directs the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture to increase focus on wildland firefighters’ physical and mental wellbeing. (20) Department of the Interior plans on creating year-round prevention and mental health training for wildland firefighters in response. (21)
Reading these numbers and projects is overwhelming—the bottom line is that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is an exciting step in the right direction. It is up to federal agencies to spend this funding wisely, in a way that truly benefits people and the environment.
1 “Infrastructure,” https://www.blm.gov/about/laws-andregulations/infrastructure.
2 Id.
3 “Fact Sheet: EPA & The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” https://www.epa.gov/infrastructure/fact-sheet-epa-bipartisan-infrastructure-law.
4 Id.
5 Id.
6 Id.
7 Id.
8 Id.
9 Id.
10 Id.
11 Id.
12 “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” https://www.usda.gov/infrastructure; “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Provide $103 Million for Wildfire Mitigation and Resilience,” https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/president-bidens-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-provide-103-millionwildfiremitigation#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%20directs,firefighter's%20physical%20and%20mental%20wellbeing.
13 “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” https://www.usda.gov/infrastructure.
14 Id.
15 Id.
16 “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Provide $103 Million for Wildfire Mitigation and Resilience,”https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/president-bidens-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-provide-103-million-wildfiremitigation#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%20directs,fire ighter's%20physical%20and%20mental%20wellbeing.
17 Id.
18 Id.
19 “Infrastructure,” https://www.blm.gov/about/laws-andregulations/infrastructure.
20 “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Provide $103 Million for Wildfire Mitigation and Resilience,”https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/president-bidens-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-provide-103millionwildfiremitigation#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%20directs,firefighter's%20physical%20and%20mental%20wellbeing.
21 Id.
