Infra Insight Blog

March 10, 2025 Update (Policy Rescission)

This afternoon (March 10, 2025), Secretary Duffy rescinded policy memoranda issued by the Federal Highway Administration during the Biden administration. The now rescinded memoranda each bore the name “Policy on Using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Resources to Build a Better America”—the first was issued on December 16, 2021 and the second on February 23, 2023. The 2021 memorandum, in particular, attracted significant attention throughout the industry when it stated that federal transportation funding “should be used to ...

February 26, 2025 Update

As discussed in our February 4 and 10, 2025, updates, U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan issued on February 3, 2025, a TRO prohibiting the Trump Administration “from implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name OMB memorandum M-25-13 freezing all federal financial assistance under open awards.”  On February 25, 2025, Judge AliKhan granted a preliminary injunction, ordering as follows:

• Enjoining the Trump Administration “from implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name the unilateral ...

On January 14, 2025, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a new final rule to end its longstanding waiver of Buy America requirements for “manufactured products” used in Federal-aid highway projects.

By way of background, FHWA’s Buy America statute was enacted in 1983 and required FHWA to ensure that all federally funded projects use only steel, iron, and manufactured products that are produced in the United States.  However, at the time, FHWA determined that it would be in the public interest to waive the Buy America requirements for manufactured products ... 

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently penned a Dear Colleague letter regarding the Agency’s implementation of the Capital Investment Grants Program, stating that FTA will consider federal loans or financing tools in the context of all federal funding sources for a project, implying that such financing assistance will be calculated as part of a transit project’s federal share. Other modal agencies consider federal loan programs, such as TIFIA or RRIF, to be part of a project’s non-federal share.[1]

The letter has caused a significant amount of discussion in the ...