What’s in the infrastructure bill – Boston Herald

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) – The $ 1 trillion infrastructure plan, which now goes to President Joe Biden to sign the bill, has money for roads, bridges, ports, rail transit, clean water, electricity, broadband internet and more.

The House passed the two-part plan Friday night, and Biden said Saturday he will hold a signing ceremony when lawmakers return from a week-long break.

The new law promises to reach almost every corner of the country. It is a historic investment that the president has compared to the construction of the transcontinental railroad and the Interstate Highway System. The White House predicts that investment will add, on average, about 2 million jobs a year over the next decade.

The bill passed Parliament by a vote of 228-206, ending weeks of negotiations within the parties, with Liberal Democrats insisting that the legislation be tied to a larger, $ 1.75 trillion social spending bill – an attempt to pressure more moderate Democrats to to support both.

The Senate passed the law by a vote of 69-30 in August after rare negotiations between two parties, and Parliament kept this compromise intact. Thirteen House Republicans voted in favor of the bill, giving Democrats more than enough votes to overcome a handful of defectors from progressives.

Here is an overview of the bill:

ROADS AND BRIDGES

The bill would provide $ 110 billion to repair the country’s aging highways, bridges and roads. According to the White House, 173,000 miles or nearly 280,000 kilometers of U.S. highways and major roads and 45,000 bridges are in poor condition. And the nearly $ 40 billion for bridges is the largest single bridge investment since the construction of the national highway system, according to the Biden administration.

PUBLIC TRANSIT

The $ 39 billion for public transportation in legislation will expand transportation systems, improve accessibility for people with disabilities, and provide dollars to state and local governments to purchase zero-emission and low-emission buses. The Department of Transportation estimates that the current repair backlog is more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 railroad cars, 200 stations and thousands of miles of track and power systems.

PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRACK

To reduce Amtrak’s maintenance backlog, which has worsened since Superstorm Sandy nine years ago, the bill would provide $ 66 billion to improve the rail service’s northeast corridor (457 miles, 735 km) as well as other routes. That’s less than the $ 80 billion Biden – who famously drove the Amtrak from Delaware to Washington during his time in the Senate – originally asked for, but it would be the largest federal investment in passenger trains since Amtrak was founded 50 years ago.

ELECTRICAL VEHICLES

The bill will spend $ 7.5 billion on charging stations for electric vehicles, which the administration says is crucial to speeding up the use of electric vehicles to curb climate change. It would also provide $ 5 billion for the purchase of electric school buses and hybrids, reducing reliance on school buses running on diesel fuel.

INTERNET ACCESS

Legislative $ 65 billion for broadband access will aim to improve Internet services for rural, low-income families and tribal communities. Most of the money would be made available through grants to states.

MODERNIZATION OF THE ELECTRICAL NETWORK

To protect against the power outages that have become more frequent in recent years, the bill would spend $ 65 billion on improving the reliability and resilience of the power grid. It would also increase carbon capture technologies and more environmentally friendly sources of electricity such as pure hydrogen.

AIRPORTS

The bill will spend $ 25 billion on improving runways, gates and taxiways at airports and on improving terminals. It would also improve aging air traffic control towers.

WATER AND WASTEWATER

The legislation will spend $ 55 billion on water and wastewater infrastructure. It has $ 15 billion to replace lead pipes and $ 10 billion to address water pollution from polyfluoroalkyl substances – chemicals that were used in the production of Teflon and have also been used in fire-fighting foams, water-repellent clothing and many other objects.

PAYS FOR IT

The five-year spending package would be paid for by utilizing $ 210 billion in unused COVID-19 emergency assistance and $ 53 billion in unemployment insurance assistance, which some states have stopped along with a number of smaller boxes of money, such as selling oil reserves and spectrum auctions for 5G services.

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Associated Press writers Alexandra Jaffe, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.