Biden administration unveils $1 trillion infrastructure bill

The White House is ramping up efforts to promote its $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and efforts to renovate roads, bridges and airports and reduce emissions.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will embark on a four-day, six-state tour starting Tuesday, visiting Florida, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada and New Hampshire to talk about the infrastructure bill. Buttigieg will promote grants approved in the November 2021 infrastructure bill, including $12 million for the Port of Tampa, $20 million to help complete the Nevada Pacific Parkway connection and increase capacity for dual access to the Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail lines, and $24.5 million to reconstruct roads and trails connecting to a major amusement park in Ohio. "We're putting a team together, getting the money out the door and telling the story," White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu told Reuters in an interview this week. "This is a transformational bill," Landrieu said, noting that it also funds public lands, clean water and power grid projects. To date, the administration has funded more than 5,000 projects and released nearly $113 billion. By the end of 2022, the administration will award billions of dollars in additional grants, including for electric vehicle charging stations. "In the next year or so, you will be able to see these coming out of the ground," Landrieu said. Landrieu said US agencies work closely with states and cities on many funding programs. If states are slow to come through, we've picked up the phone and called them all. We want to tell you again, 'We're trying to get you this money. How can we help?" On Wednesday, the Commerce Department announced that all 50 states had applied for initial planning awards under a $42.45 billion fund to bring broadband internet to unserved areas. Earlier this month, the administration said all states had submitted electric vehicle infrastructure deployment plans required under the $5 billion electric vehicle charging program. "We have 100% participation in these major structural programs so that the next big thing can happen," Landrieu said. The Department of Transportation this week announced $1.66 billion in grants for 1,800 new buses. The 150 grants include $116 million for New York City to purchase 230 battery electric buses to replace older diesel buses and $280,000 for Fayetteville, North Carolina to purchase three light transit vehicles. Last week, the Department of Transportation awarded $2.2 billion in grants to modernize roads, bridges and other projects, including $25 million for California's High Speed Rail program.