PSA Group LLC

11/15/2021

President Biden Signs Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Into Law

The bill contains bipartisan provisions previously passed through the traditional committee process – namely the surface transportation reauthorizations passed unanimously by the Environment and Public Works and Commerce Committees, the bipartisan Energy Infrastructure Act passed by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act passed by the EPW Committee.

The nearly $550 billion in total new spending by sector includes topline amounts as follows:

 Transportation – $284 billion
 Power Infrastructure – $73 billion
 Broadband – $65 billion
 Water Infrastructure – $55 billion
 Resiliency and Cybersecurity – $50 billion
 Environmental Remediation – $21 billion

The package is financed through a combination of redirecting unspent Covid-19 relief funds, targeted corporate user fees, and other measures.

An amendment was added to require USDOT, in coordination with State departments of transportation, to carry out a highway cost allocation study to determine the direct costs of highway use by various types of users, including vehicles of different dimensions, weights, number of axles, etc., frequency of those vehicles in the traffic stream, and safety-, emissions-, congestion-, and noise-related costs of highway use by various types of users, and other costs.

Surface Transportation
Utilizing the framework in both the EPW Surface Transportation Reauthorization and the Commerce Surface Transportation Investment Acts, plus direct advanced appropriations, the legislation increases spending for transportation. Total transportation funding in this five-year package is $567 billion.
Additional spending for surface transportation includes $110 billion for roads and bridges, with a significant amount of direct advanced appropriations in the form of competitive grants (bridges at $36 billion; RAISE grants at $7.5 billion; INFRA grants at $3.2 billion; and a new $5 billion multimodal “National Infrastructure Project Assistance Grant Program” to support multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional projects of national or regional significance).

Funding for freight and passenger rail increases markedly under the IIJA. $66 billion in freight and passenger rail is made available for Amtrak ($16 billion, plus $6 billion for the Northeast Corridor), Intercity passenger rail ($36 billion), CRISI safety funds ($5 billion), and a competitive rail crossing elimination program ($3 billion).
Transit spending totaling $39.15 billion reflects an increase of 43% above baseline levels for contract authority, for $69.9 billion over the next five years. When combined with the supplemental appropriations of this section, this package provides an 83% increase for transit funding compared to FAST Act levels. Specific provisions include an $8 billion capital investment grant program and a $5.25 billion for a “Low-No” Program to provide funding for zero and low emission transit vehicles and associated infrastructure.

Ports and inland waterways will see an investment of $17.3 billion for waterway and coastal infrastructure, inland waterway improvements, port infrastructure, and land ports of entry through the Army Corps DOT, Coast Guard, GSA, and DHS.
Airports will see $25 billion in formula funds and discretionary grant programs.

Water Infrastructure
The agreement also includes $23.4 billion for the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, which would provide new investment in water infrastructure across the country, and provides additional funding to address PFAS and for lead remediation.

Streamline Project Delivery
The legislation lifts the sunset on FAST-41, which has served to improve the federal infrastructure permitting process while leaving important environmental protections in place. The Act created the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which supports the coordination of federal agencies at the start and throughout the permitting process for major projects.
The IIJA also includes the codification of One Federal Decision, the President Trump-era Executive Order that set a two-year goal for completing the environmental review and permitting process for major projects. Notably, this provision had passed the Senate EPW Committee twice by unanimous vote in the last two years as part of surface transportation reauthorization bills.

Innovate
The IIJA contains $10.5 billion in new funding for safety measures, including a $1.1 billion grant program to help states improve driver behavior and safety, $467.5 million to support State and local law enforcement efforts to mitigate crashes and hazardous materials incidents involving commercial motor vehicles, and $200 million to support a competitive high priority commercial vehicle safety plan.
An amendment was added requiring the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue a rule setting new safety standards for limousines within 2 years of enactment of the legislation.
Related to the use of public-private partnerships, the bill requires a value for money analysis for projects with an estimated total cost of more than $750 million. The analysis is required to take place prior to signing any project development agreement, and include an evaluation of the life-cycle costs and project delivery schedule, costs of using private versus public funding and financing, a forecast of user fees and other revenues to be generated by the project, and, along with any other information USDOT determines in evaluating these analyses, any analysis of federal grants, loans, etc., key terms of any proposed P3 and any known rate of return for private entities and major compensation events, a discussion of risk allocation costs and benefits, risk premiums assigned to different development scenarios, and an evaluation of public benefits generated by the project. Further, an amendment was added amending the TIFIA statute to require that TIFIA projects “shall have appropriate payment and performance security.”
An amendment was added to the legislation creating a Minority Business Development Agency within the Department of Commerce, to contain an Office of Business Centers, to engage on a regional basis with the goal of enabling the Federal Government to better serve the needs of minority business enterprises in the region served by the office.

08/24/2021

Senate and House Pass Bipartisan Infrastructure Package

Notably, the bill contains bipartisan provisions previously passed through the traditional committee process – namely the surface transportation reauthorizations passed unanimously by the Environment and Public Works and Commerce Committees, the bipartisan Energy Infrastructure Act passed by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act passed by the EPW Committee.
The nearly $550 billion in total new spending by sector includes topline amounts as follows:

 Transportation – $284 billion
 Power Infrastructure – $73 billion
 Broadband – $65 billion
 Water Infrastructure – $55 billion
 Resiliency and Cybersecurity – $50 billion
 Environmental Remediation – $21 billion

The package is financed through a combination of redirecting unspent Covid-19 relief funds, targeted corporate user fees, and other measures.

An amendment was added to require USDOT, in coordination with State departments of transportation, to carry out a highway cost allocation study to determine the direct costs of highway use by various types of users, including vehicles of different dimensions, weights, number of axles, etc., frequency of those vehicles in the traffic stream, and safety-, emissions-, congestion-, and noise-related costs of highway use by various types of users, and other costs.

Surface Transportation
Utilizing the framework in both the EPW Surface Transportation Reauthorization and the Commerce Surface Transportation Investment Acts, plus direct advanced appropriations, the legislation increases spending for transportation. Total transportation funding in this five-year package is $567 billion.
Additional spending for surface transportation includes $110 billion for roads and bridges, with a significant amount of direct advanced appropriations in the form of competitive grants (bridges at $36 billion; RAISE grants at $7.5 billion; INFRA grants at $3.2 billion; and a new $5 billion multimodal “National Infrastructure Project Assistance Grant Program” to support multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional projects of national or regional significance).

Funding for freight and passenger rail increases markedly under the IIJA. $66 billion in freight and passenger rail is made available for Amtrak ($16 billion, plus $6 billion for the Northeast Corridor), Intercity passenger rail ($36 billion), CRISI safety funds ($5 billion), and a competitive rail crossing elimination program ($3 billion).

Transit spending totaling $39.15 billion reflects an increase of 43% above baseline levels for contract authority, for $69.9 billion over the next five years. When combined with the supplemental appropriations of this section, this package provides an 83% increase for transit funding compared to FAST Act levels. Specific provisions include an $8 billion capital investment grant program and a $5.25 billion for a “Low-No” Program to provide funding for zero and low emission transit vehicles and associated infrastructure.

Ports and inland waterways will see an investment of $17.3 billion for waterway and coastal infrastructure, inland waterway improvements, port infrastructure, and land ports of entry through the Army Corps DOT, Coast Guard, GSA, and DHS.

Airports will see $25 billion in formula funds and discretionary grant programs.

Water Infrastructure
The agreement also includes $23.4 billion for the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, which would provide new investment in water infrastructure across the country, and provides additional funding to address PFAS and for lead remediation.

Streamline Project Delivery
The legislation lifts the sunset on FAST-41, which has served to improve the federal infrastructure permitting process while leaving important environmental protections in place. The Act created the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which supports the coordination of federal agencies at the start and throughout the permitting process for major projects.

The IIJA also includes the codification of One Federal Decision, the President Trump-era Executive Order that set a two-year goal for completing the environmental review and permitting process for major projects. Notably, this provision had passed the Senate EPW Committee twice by unanimous vote in the last two years as part of surface transportation reauthorization bills.
Innovate

The IIJA contains $10.5 billion in new funding for safety measures, including a $1.1 billion grant program to help states improve driver behavior and safety, $467.5 million to support State and local law enforcement efforts to mitigate crashes and hazardous materials incidents involving commercial motor vehicles, and $200 million to support a competitive high priority commercial vehicle safety plan.

An amendment was added requiring the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to issue a rule setting new safety standards for limousines within 2 years of enactment of the legislation.
Related to the use of public-private partnerships, the bill requires a value for money analysis for projects with an estimated total cost of more than $750 million. The analysis is required to take place prior to signing any project development agreement, and include an evaluation of the life-cycle costs and project delivery schedule, costs of using private versus public funding and financing, a forecast of user fees and other revenues to be generated by the project, and, along with any other information USDOT determines in evaluating these analyses, any analysis of federal grants, loans, etc., key terms of any proposed P3 and any known rate of return for private entities and major compensation events, a discussion of risk allocation costs and benefits, risk premiums assigned to different development scenarios, and an evaluation of public benefits generated by the project. Further, an amendment was added amending the TIFIA statute to require that TIFIA projects “shall have appropriate payment and performance security.”
An amendment was added to the legislation creating a Minority Business Development Agency within the Department of Commerce, to contain an Office of Business Centers, to engage on a regional basis with the goal of enabling the Federal Government to better serve the needs of minority business enterprises in the region served by the office.

06/25/2021

Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework released 6/25/2021:

$66 billion in rail projects and $49 billion for public transit. Mr. Biden, speaking to reporters, said Republicans had agreed to funding for many of his transportation proposals, albeit at reduced levels — and touted the inclusion of a $7.5 billion investment in charging stations for electric vehicles.

$109 billion in road and bridge projects. The framework includes an additional $25 million to upgrade airports and $16 billion for improvements at the nation’s cargo ports and waterways.

$201 billion in water, sewer, power and environmental remediation projects. The plan includes $55 billion for water infrastructure, $21 billion for environmental projects, and $73 billion for power grid improvements.

$65 billion for broadband infrastructure. Mr. Biden has said his goal is to provide “universal” broadband access, an initiative that is especially popular with Republican senators from states with large rural and exurban populations.

No new taxes on the wealthy or on corporations. Gone is the rollback of President Donald J. Trump’s tax cuts or Mr. Biden’s plan to raise the rates paid by corporations, a core selling point of the plan for progressives. But gone too are the proposals by Republicans, including a gas tax, which Mr. Biden viewed as new taxation on the middle and working classes.

A $47 billion down payment on “resilience” projects to cope with climate change. The agreement includes billions slated for weatherproofing, upgrades to coastal infrastructure and projects intended to mitigate against severe weather.

Stepped-up tax collection by the I.R.S. The proposal is expected to include heightened enforcement efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to reduce tax evasion by corporations and high earners. One of the lawmakers who worked on the deal, Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, said the package would pump around $40 billion into enforcement to produce a net gain in tax revenues of $100 billion.

No major funding for housing. Mr. Biden lamented that he was unable to secure commitments for big new investments in affordable housing, but said he would keep pushing.

01/04/2021

FEDERAL STIMULUS DETAILS–INFRASTRUCTURE RELATED
PPP loan deductibility included but not FAR credits

Some of the key transportation components:

COVID Relief and Economic Stimulus

The bill includes $14 billion in supplemental funding for transit agencies, $10 billion in highway funding for State DOTs, $2 billion for airports, and $1 billion for Amtrak.

This supplemental funding is all available at 100% federal cost share and should help alleviate some of the immediate budget pressures they are facing.

The transit funding has broad eligibility but is largely directed to cover operating expenses. Funds are distributed according to current program formulas, but when combined with CARES Act funding is capped at 75% of an agency’s operating costs.

The $10 billion in highway funding will be distributed to states according to the existing apportionment formula. DOTs can use the funds for costs related to preventive maintenance, routine maintenance, operations, personnel, including salaries of employees or contractors, debt service payments, availability payments, and coverage for other revenue losses.

Of the emergency funding for airports, $1.75 billion is designated for costs related to operations, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, combating the spread of pathogens at the airport, and debt service payments.

In addition to emergency funding relief, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) was also rolled into the bill, another victory for ACEC. WRDA authorizes $9.9 billion in federal funds for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental restoration, coastal protection, and other projects. A last-minute deal modified the spending levels from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for dredging projects, starting at $500 million and ramping up in future years.

On PPP loans, the bill provides for the deductibility of expenses covered by forgiven loans, reversing an earlier IRS ruling. ACEC has been strongly advocating for this change through grassroots alerts and business coalition actions.

The bill does not include provisions to address FAR credits from government contractors for forgiven PPP loans.

Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations

Congress continued the recent trend of supplementing authorized Trust Fund programs with supplements from the General Fund. Most transportation accounts held steady or grew from current levels.

Here are a few highlights of the final transportation appropriations bill for FY 2021:

Highways – $46.4 billion for core highway programs, which is the same as FY 2020 and consistent with the one-year extension of the FAST Act; supplemented by $2 billion from the General Fund for highway infrastructure, including $1 billion specifically for bridge rehabilitation and replacement.

Transit – $10.15 billion for transit formula grants, consistent with the FAST Act extension of 2020 funding levels, supplemented by $516 million for additional transit infrastructure grants from the General Fund; $2.014 billion for Capital Investment Grants.

Aviation – $3.35 billion for the Airport Improvement Program, supplemented by $400 million in additional General Fund airport infrastructure discretionary grants; $3 billion for FAA Facilities & Equipment.

Rail – $2 billion for Amtrak, $200 million for the Federal-State Partnership State of Good Repair program, and $375 million for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grants.
Multimodal – $1 billion for competitive infrastructure grants (TIGER/BUILD) for highway, bridge, transit, passenger and freight rail, ports, and intermodal facilities projects.

Ports – $230 million for port infrastructure grants.

11/19/2018

Eric Rothman OP-ED in Contractors Hotline:

Will the recent election results lead to more federal investment in transportation infrastructure?

As a decades long advocate for increased federal funding in transportation I have always believed that the condition of roads, bridges and other physical assets greatly affects the economy’s ability to function and grow. Commerce requires well-maintained roads, railroads, airports, and ports so that manufacturers can obtain raw materials and parts and deliver finished products to consumers. Improving many types of public infrastructure boosts the productivity of businesses by reducing their costs. Better roads and public transit make it feasible and more efficient for workers to get from their home communities to more of the places where the jobs are.

Though Republicans and Democrats currently disagree on a wide variety of policy proposals, members of both parties have, at time, been supportive of infrastructure spending.
"The Democrats are likely to push plans for large-scale infrastructure spending. Republicans have generally opposed Democratic plans on this issue, but President Trump has expressed support for infrastructure spending and might be willing to help," notes HSBC Bank Chief U.S. economist Kevin Logan.

In a recent postelection news conference, the president said he and Democrats "have a lot of things in common on infrastructure." Ever since launching his White House bid the president had lambasted what he's categorized as "horrible infrastructure problems" throughout the United States.

Newly energized Democrats are ready to pass a "pretty big, bold bill" and help pay for it by raising the federal gasoline tax for the first time in 25 years says Ray LaHood, former US Secretary of Transportation and currently co-chairman of the Building America's Future coalition, which pushes for a new era in infrastructure investment. The federal gas tax has been 18.4 cents, 24.4 cents for diesel, since it was last raised in 1993.

Back in February, there were reports that Trump was signaling a willingness to consider a federal gas tax hike to bolster the cash-strapped Highway Trust Fund, which is Washington’s primary mechanism for funding transportation infrastructure. Analysts say that the HTF is facing insolvency, and that without a rise in the gas tax or other additional funding sources, it could run out of money as soon as 2021.

Another proposal that has seen some support in Congress is a National Infrastructure Bank. Such a bank would be a government-owned corporation and, like the TIFIA loan program, would provide cheap, long-term financing for infrastructure projects. Supporters such as I have argued that this could overcome the fractured nature of local spending, help coordinate developments that cross state borders, and give Washington greater ability to prioritize important projects.

Both raising the federal fuel tax and establishing a national infrastructure bank are long overdue measures in my view. If you agree I urge you to contact your Members of Congress as well as President Trump and demand action. After decades of talk, empty promises and reshuffling of power it’s time our political leaders act in the vital national interest and fully fund transportation infrastructure using all available public and private mechanisms.

03/31/2017

Effective March 31, 2017 Marketing General Incorporated (MGI) has been appointed exclusive manager for all PSA Group LLC Lists. To see our Datacard please visit: http://media.mgilists.com/market?page=research/datacard&id=418224.

For more information and/or to order please contact List Manager Rachel M. Blackwood, 703.706.0341, [email protected].

07/03/2016

PSA's June 2016 Infrastructure Update is now available. To read the Newsletter please visit:https://psagroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/PSA-June-2016-Infrastructure-Update.pdf

03/14/2016

To lean more about and support PSA Infrastructure Advocacy & Education Organization please visit: https://lnkd.in/bm_TPZg

Support 'AMERICA’S FUTURE DEPENDS ON ITS INFRASTRUCTURE!' by donating or sharing today!

02/20/2016

Please visit:https://psagroupllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Feb-2016-PSA-IAEO-Infrastructure-Update.pdf to see our February 2016 Infrastructure Update Newsletter!

12/17/2015

Proud to announce that PSA’s December 2015 Infrastructure Update Newsletter will be sponsored by Pieresearch (www.pieresearch.com)! Since 1986, Pieresearch has manufactured the finest quality concrete accessories for the construction industry and is the industry leader in rebar cage alignment used in commercial and industrial construction, highways and bridges, high rise structures, hotels, resorts, events centers and much more.

Please visit: https://psagroupllc.com/infrastructure-advocacy-education/ to learn more about additional sponsorship opportunities.

Concrete pier bolsters, spacer wheels and pier sled products from Pieresearch are are designed to keep a reinforcing steel cage centered and off of the floor of a drilled shaft to insure proper alignment and concrete cover in accordance with ACI specifications.