Infra Insight Blog

Imagine you are sitting in your car at a traffic signal. The signal turns green and you begin to accelerate. Without you doing anything, your car suddenly screeches to a halt as another car runs a red light and whizzes past. Your car, equipped with sensors and an array of wireless connections, was able to communicate with other vehicles and the surrounding infrastructure to avoid collision. If your car had not stopped, you would have been involved in a serious accident. According to a recent plan released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), this is exactly the type of ...

Through recent updates to California’s Public Contract Code, public agencies are being equipped with new tools to deliver major infrastructure projects through use of the progressive design-build (PDB) model. As more public agencies gain access to the legislative tools available to use PDB, we expect to see an increasing number of water projects undertaken and completed successfully under the PDB or other early contractor delivery methods. … 

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) recently announced a long-awaited Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for public agencies to enhance technical capacity to deliver projects using a public-private partnership (P3) model. Authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58; also known as the IIJA), $57.72 million is available through the Innovative Finance and Asset Concessions Grant Program (Program) for public agencies to hire technical, financial and legal experts (either on staff or as consultants) to support the evaluation and delivery ...

The first urban-core tolling program in the United States marked a major milestone. In late June, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) concluded its environmental assessment of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) Central Business District (CBD) Tolling Program and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). This federal determination will allow the program to move forward into implementation. ... 

Last month, through the annual process known as the “May Revise,” California Governor Gavin Newsom released an update to the 2023-24 state budget proposal that he first introduced in January. The updated budget proposal sets forth a $306.5 billion spending plan that seeks to tackle the state’s growing budget deficit while maintaining key investments in education, healthcare, housing, climate and infrastructure.

Regarding infrastructure, the Governor noted that, due to unprecedented local, state, and federal investments, the state will spend more than $180 billion ...

On January 10, 2023, the Biden-Harris administration released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization ("Blueprint"), representing a major step in advancing the president’s clean transportation agenda and addressing the growing climate crisis caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Blueprint arrives as preliminary U.S. carbon-emissions data for 2022 show yet another year of increased emissions, indicating that the country is not on course to meet its commitment under the Paris Agreement to halve economy-wide emissions by 2030. ... 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58; IIJA) expanded the scope of the Buy America preference by requiring that all construction materials, iron and steel, and manufactured products used in federally supported infrastructure projects be produced in the United States. Prior to the IIJA, Buy America requirements did not apply to construction materials.

The federal government began implementing the new requirements earlier this year, beginning with the Office of Management and Budget’s implementation guidance, followed by the U.S. Department of ...

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 ...

On February 4, 2022, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects (the “Executive Order”)¹, which will require the use of project labor agreements (“PLAs”) on large-scale federal construction projects with a total estimated cost to the federal government of $35 million or more.

A PLA is a collective bargaining agreement that applies to a specific construction project and lasts only for the duration of the project. PLAs are primarily designed to reduce jurisdictional disputes among unions and between ...

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 ...

Late last Friday on November 5^th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA, which President Biden intends to sign on Monday, November 15^th. Much of the focus of the bill has been on the unprecedented increase in federal spending to rebuild the nation's roads, bridges, airports, seaports and transit systems. However, there are several provisions of the infrastructure bill that expand, and hopefully will make more transparent, the TIFIA credit assistance program. A low-cost ...

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that passed the Senate this week includes $65 billion to improve broadband infrastructure, middle mile infrastructure and broadband access by unserved and underserved communities.

Division F (Broadband) of the bill lays out four key aspects of the program. ...

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...

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns and economic disruptions have severely affected the usual revenue sources that local governments have used to fund public improvements and transportation services – e.g., distributions of state and federal gas tax revenue, local sales taxes and property taxes. Local governments might consider creating parking benefit districts (“PBDs”), which can provide modest amounts of revenue. PBDs, along with other creative ways to raise revenue, can help fill in funding gaps for local improvements and services. ...

Governor Newsom recently signed into law Senate Bill 288 (the “Sustainable Transportation COVID-19 Recovery Act”), which will temporarily add new exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) statute. The purpose of SB 288 is to fast track transit and sustainable transportation projects, provide a boost to public transit agencies affected by COVID-19, aid economic recovery by producing jobs, and reduce driving and GHG emissions. 

These statutory exemptions may help expedite environmental review of transportation projects that are specifically ...

5G provides reliable communications, enables near real-time interactions and has much faster data speed. 5G also provides the platform for the Internet of Things which can be utilized in improving public safety, autonomous driving, healthcare, education, smart cities, smart farming, home automation and many more.

On August 12, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld most of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s initiatives to expedite 5G deployments on existing local infrastructure. Specifically, the court upheld the following orders issued ...

In his Infra Insight Blog post on April 9, Frank Liu reported on the uncertain status of the long awaited federal infrastructure bill.  As the federal deficit balloons and election season intensifies, the likelihood of prompt Congressional action on a major infrastructure bill is diminishing.  All indications are that it will be sidelined as Congress works on a “Phase 4” coronavirus relief bill to ameliorate the unprecedented loss of jobs throughout the nation and provide further direct assistance to the business community.  The Phase 4 bill also should include ample stop gap ...

Last Tuesday, President Donald Trump tweeted his support for a “very big and bold” $2 trillion infrastructure package to be included in Congress’ next response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  To date, Congress has passed three bills to combat the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, which has ravaged the global economy and caused more than 297 million Americans to be placed under some form of lockdown.  The latest bill, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was signed into law on March 27, 2020 and directs more than $2 trillion in spending to ...

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released its latest Positive Train Control (PTC) implementation progress report for the 2nd quarter of 2018. The FRA’s latest report indicates that railroads are making steady progress toward PTC compliance.

FRA says that 15 railroads have installed 100% and 12 railroads have installed between 95 and 99% of the mandated PTC system hardware. In addition, all but one railroad has acquired sufficient spectrum required for PTC Implementation.

FRA states that railroad implementation of PTC has improved since December 2016, where ...

In an effort to promote project flexibility, funding innovation, efficiencies and timely implementation, this week the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released its final rule regarding P3s (and other private involvement) in public transportation projects.

The primary goal of FTA’s Private Investment Project Procedures (or PIPP), new 49 C.F.R. Part 650, is to identify and address FTA requirements that are impediments to the greater use of public-private partnerships and private investment in public transportation capital projects, while protecting the public ...

President Trump recently signed into law a repeal of the MPO Coordination and Planning Area Reform rule less than a year after the rule was finalized by the Obama administration’s Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration. The rule, which was largely unpopular with local metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) across the country, aimed to consolidate many MPOs. As a demonstration of just how unpopular the rule was, the bipartisan repeal effort unanimously passed in the Senate and overwhelmingly passed in the House.

The MPO Consolidation Rule was ...

On Tuesday, May 16, 2017 the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure will hold a hearing titled Leveraging Federal Funding; Innovative Solutions for Infrastructure.

The stated purpose of the hearing is for Senators to examine the need for more public sector funding and private sector financing in the Federal Highway Program.  To this end, the Subcommittee has scheduled the following individuals to testify on this topic:

• Eric Garcetti (Mayor, City of Los Angeles; Chair of U.S. Conference of Mayors Infrastructure ...

It’s been a productive time for advocates of water in the U.S. with President Obama signing into law the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN).  WIIN includes the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA), together with provisions to authorize critical water projects  and improve drinking water infrastructure, water storage and supply, flood control and waterways across the nation.

A summary of some of WIIN’s key attributes are set out below:

• WIIN authorizes Congress to provide $20 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act ...

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 ...

Lower gas prices and decreased revenue from California’s Price Based Excise Tax (PBET) on gasoline are taking their toll on the state’s transportation funding.  California Transportation Commission (CTC) staff recently recommended enormous decreases in the upcoming five-year State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).  The CTC Commission will consider the staff’s recommendations and is expected to make a final decision at its meeting on May 18 and 19.

The staff’s recommendations include no new transportation projects in the next five years, as well as ...

For years, policymakers and economists around the country have been well aware that the federal gas tax is dying.

In its report to Congress, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, on which I was honored to serve, made clear that we must replace the 18.4 cent federal gas tax with other means of funding transportation in order to maintain and improve our highways, bridges and transit systems in the United States.

The commission recommended a road user charge as the most effective approach to solving this problem.

[If] we fail to address the immediate ...

On March 31, 2015, Congressman John K. Delaney (D-MD) spoke at the Washington Briefing of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBBTA) in Washington, DC. At the event, Congressman Delaney provided an update on a bipartisan bill he has sponsored known as The Infrastructure 2.0 Act to fund the federal highway program. The bill uses international corporate tax reform to provide a six-year funding source for the Highway Trust Fund. Specifically, the bill establishes a mandatory, one-time 8.75% tax on existing overseas profits accumulated by U.S. multi-national ...

Federal transportation officials are contemplating new contract rules that would make it easier for states and cities to hire local residents to work on transportation projects.  Federal rules currently prohibit the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) from allowing contract provisions that do not directly relate to the bidder's performance of work.  Thus, local hiring provisions have not been allowed in procurements for federally funded projects.  This month, however, U.S. Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx, announced a ...

The Second Annual Conference of the Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance (MBUFA) was held in Washington, DC on February 24, 2015.  The MBUFA is a non-profit organization that promotes awareness and education about mileage-based user fees as an alternative for the future funding of improvements to the U.S. transportation system.  Attendees included policy makers, public sector representatives and private sector stakeholders weighing in on the topic Sustainable Transportation Funding, Road User Fees: Is There Another Option for Achieving Financial Sustainability?   The concept of a ...

This Friday, January 23, 2015, California will take the first step in investigating a road user charge pilot program as an alternative to the gas tax when the CTC convenes the Road User Charge Advisory Committee meeting.  The committee was created last year by SB 1077 which authorizes a pilot study.  California joins a handful of other states that are exploring road user charge pilot programs, including Oregon, Washington, and Minnesota.

The 15 member committee is made up of representatives of local and regional agencies, privacy advocates, auto groups and state officials.  According ...

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recently released an updated version of its popular roadmap of US transportation funding options, Matrix of Illustrative Surface Transportation Revenue Options, which may be accessed here.

The tool examines the five surface transportation revenue sources currently in place and considers 33 other potential sources of revenue. Updates to the tool include a bubble display and bar chart that allow users to see how much revenue the funding sources considered might generate. The tool is intended to ...

On September 17, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s Panel on Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) released its report and recommendations.  The group, empaneled in February of this year, was tasked with examining issues regarding public-private partnerships across all aspects of the Committee’s jurisdiction.  The panel held two hearings and seven roundtable discussions in addition to other meetings and briefings. The report recognizes that the nation’s infrastructure needs are extraordinary and P3s in certain situations can provide innovative ...

Earlier this week, on August 25, 2014, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published Circular 7050.1, providing much anticipated guidance for grantees interested in pursuing joint development projects within FTA’s legal and regulatory framework.  The circular incorporates joint-development related provisions from MAP-21, and is intended to clarify FTA’s policy and serve as its single guidance document on the subject.

Specifically, the circular: (1) defines the term joint development; (2) explains how a joint development project can qualify for FTA assistance; ...

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx chaired a virtual town hall meeting, entitled Moving from Uncertainty to Long-Term Transportation Investment, on August 6, 2014.  The town hall was open to the general public, as well as business leaders, transportation advocates, and state and local government officials.  Secretary Foxx discussed the United States Department of Transportation’s (US DOT) vision for the future of transportation, as well as answered questions from attendees about transportation policy.

In his opening remarks, and throughout the question and answer ...

Congress passed a bill (HR 5021) to provide a short-term funding patch for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), just one day before the United States Department of Transportation was scheduled to begin slowing reimbursements to states for eligible highway, bridge, and mass transit projects.  A failure to act by Congress had the potential to slow-down or stop any number of transportation construction projects across the country in the midst of the construction season.

After volleying the bill back and forth between the chambers over the course of this week, Congress passed a final bill that ...

President Barak Obama today announced the Build America Investment Initiative (the Initiative).  According to the Fact Sheet released by the White House in advance of the announcement, the purpose of the Initiative is to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth by engaging with state and local governments and private sector investors to encourage collaboration, expand the market for public-private partnerships (PPPs) and put federal credit programs to greater use.

The transportation industry will be the first to benefit from the Initiative.

The Fact Sheet lays ...

Two measures have been introduced in the California legislature to respond to the growth of crude-by-rail volume in the state.

State Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) has introduced SB 1319, which would expand existing law regarding oil spills to cover inland waterways and direct the Governor to require the Administrator of the Office of Spill Prevention and Response to amend the California oil spill contingency plan to cover inland waterway spills, which would include any spills from railroads. 

Sen. Pavley told the LA Times, "We need to address the new and unique hazards of ...

The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies (TRB) has released its second volume of guidance addressing risks in project delivery, including risks associated with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  This second volume of guidance, entitled Guidance for Managing NEPA-Related and Other Risks in Project Delivery, Volume 2: Expediting NEPA Decisions and Other Practitioner Strategies for Addressing High Risk Issues in Project Delivery, (Volume 2) was submitted in March 2014 under the TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and ...

On June 3, the United States Banking Committee unanimously forwarded a bill (S. 2244 the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014) that would extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (or TRIA) for seven years.  The bill forwarded by the Senate Banking Committee was introduced in April by Senators Schumer (D-NY), Kirk (R-IL), Reed (D-RI), Heller (R-NV) and has 23 cosponsors.

Chairman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services Subcommittee of the Housing and Insurance Committee is pursuing a three year reauthorization.  A ...

The U.S. Department of Transportation has initiated changes to its TIGER Application review process effective for the pending TIGER VI round of funding.  The most important change is that once a project receives a technical rating, that rating will not change during the remainder of the review process.

On May 28, 2014 the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report finding that in TIGER V round of funding, DOT did not document key decisions to accept and review late applications, advance projects with lower technical ratings instead of more highly-rated projects,  and ...

Posted by guest blogger William Moore.

William Moore of Vianovo works with the Transportation Transformation Group, a consortia of public and private entities that looks at ways of improving the funding and financing of the nation's transportation infrastructure, which is co-chaired by Nossaman Partner Geoffrey Yarema.

The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unveiled a six-year surface transportation bill last night that would maintain current funding under MAP-21 legislation expiring in September, plus inflation. Every state would ...

On April 29, 2014, President Obama delivered a draft of "Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America" or "GROW AMERICA" Act to Congress, promised as his administration’s proposed multi-year surface transportation reauthorization.  This is the first surface transportation authorization proposal to be released, and the House and Senate proposals are likely to be more conservative.

The GROW AMERICA Act proposes to replenish the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund ...

The "Congressional Caucus on Public Private Partnerships" reconvened on April 29, 2014, inviting the installations Assistant Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force to discuss how the U.S. Department of Defense ("DOD") might use public-private partnership strategies to solve installation infrastructure challenges.  Representatives Mike Rogers (R. Alabama, 3rd District) and Gerry Connolly (D. Virginia, 11th District) co-chaired.

Congressman Rogers split the discussion into three parts.  First, he asked for the panelists how P3s have solved DOD challenges in light of ...

In our prior posts we noted the important changes in federal tolling law under MAP-21 and some of the issues raised by those changes.  MAP-21 modestly loosened the federal reins on tolling the nation’s Interstates and federal-aid highways.  The Obama Administration just released its federal surface transportation reauthorization legislation, the Grow America Act.  In section 1405, the Administration proposes further constructive steps to expand tolling rights, but reintroduces some constraints that MAP-21 relaxed.

Probably the most important proposal is to create the right ...

Posted by guest blogger William Moore.

William Moore of Vianovo works with the Transportation Transformation Group,  a consortia of public and private entities that looks at ways of improving the funding and financing of the nation's transportation infrastructure, which is co-chaired by Nossaman Partner Geoffrey Yarema.

Absent swift action by Congress, state departments of transportation will begin to have cash flow problems that could delay payments to vendors and slow projects.  Without action by the fall, new projects may have to be shelved until Congress can resolve the ...

On Wednesday, March 5, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Special Panel on Public-Private Partnerships held a hearing entitled "Overview of Public-Private Partnerships for Highway and Transit Projects" to review the role of P3s in delivery of highway and transit projects. The witness list and links to their testimony are as follows:

Mr. Joseph Kile, Assistant Director for Microeconomic Studies, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Written Testimony

Mr. James M. Bass, Interim Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Texas Department of Transportation Written ...

On February 26, President Obama announced a proposal to fund a four year surface transportation bill that would increase spending by 22% for highways and 70% for transit over current levels.  The White House provided a Fact Sheet that outlines to proposal.   The current law, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) expires at the end of September.  That means that a new bill or an extension must be agreed to by both Houses of Congress by that time.  The President's envisions a $302 billion four year bill that builds on the substantive provisions of MAP-21.  More ...

In a move that should make successor agencies to redevelopment agencies happy, a new law was passed and approved by the Governor on February 18, 2014 (AB 471) that, among other things, amends Section 53395.4 of the California Government Code to allow infrastructure financing districts to finance a project or portion of a project located within a redevelopment project area or former redevelopment project area.

Infrastructure financing district law now provides a mechanism to finance projects that would have otherwise been financed by redevelopment agencies but for their ...