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Transportation Committee: ACEC Transportation Legislative and Regulatory Update

Here's an update on congressional appropriations for transportation programs for the coming federal fiscal year, along with a few recent grant announcements from U.S. DOT.


FY 2025 Transportation Appropriations


The House Appropriations Committee has approved its version of the spending bill for federal Transportation, Housing and Urban Development programs for the coming fiscal year. The bill was passed on a party line vote of 31-26. House Republicans are sticking to the text of the spending caps approved last year, while Democrats are objecting to the overall funding levels in the House bills, the impact of certain cuts, and several policy provisions included in the bills.


Here are a few highlights for programs of interest:


Highways: $61.3 billion, an increase of $1.2 billion over last year and consistent with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The bill adds an additional $1.49 billion in supplemental spending, including $200 million for tribal transportation, $200 million for truck parking, and $1.09 billion for earmarks projects.


Transit: $14.3 billion, an increase of $289 million above FY24 and consistent with the IIJA, plus an additional $116 million for earmarked projects. The bill also provides $755 million for capital investment grants, a reduction of $1.45 billion below last year. The committee states that this amount, combined with the advanced appropriations in the IIJA, is sufficient to fund projects with existing full funding grant agreements. It also accounts for the stalled Second Avenue subway project in New York (expected $500 million in FY25), which was put on hold when the city's congestion pricing plan was halted by the governor and the expected revenues and financing capacity decreased significantly.


Aviation: $4 billion for the Airport Improvement Program, consistent with the newly enacted FAA Reauthorization and a $650 million increase above 2024, plus an additional $257 million for earmarked projects. FAA Facilities & Equipment receives $3.55 billion, an increase of $356 million.


Rail: $298 million for consolidated rail safety and infrastructure grants and $2.125 billion for Amtrak, including $1 billion for the Northeast Corridor and $1.125 billion for the national network, reductions from current funding levels.


Multimodal: New funding for RAISE grants is zeroed out, but the advanced appropriations in the IIJA for RAISE ($1.5 billion) and Mega ($1 billion) grants is retained.


Ports: $72 million for port infrastructure grants, a reduction of $48 million below the current year.A summary of the bill from Appropriations Committee Republicans is here, and additional information and links to the list of earmarked projects is here.A summary from committee Democrats is here, where you can see their objections to funding cuts and certain policy provisions, e.g. climate and equity.The full House may vote on the bill when Congress returns to DC for the next two weeks. The Senate Appropriations Committee is still drafting their versions of the bills. Final negotiations on the FY 2025 budget are not expected to conclude until after the November elections.


U.S. DOT Major Bridge Project Grants


The Federal Highway Administration has announced more than $5 billion in grant awards to 13 bridge projects across the country.Click here for the press release, which includes information on each project and additional information on DOT bridge programs.


Reconnecting Communities and Railroad Crossing Elimination Grants


The application process is open for the next round of two infrastructure programs of interest to many firms and client organizations - reconnecting communities and railroad crossing elimination.More than $600 million is available for the Reconnecting Communities pilot program, which includes funding for planning, engineering, and construction costs. The announcement and formal notice of funding opportunity is available here.

The deadline for applications is September 30.The Federal Railroad Administration has opened applications for the next round of the Railroad Crossing Elimination program, totaling $1.1 billion. More information and instructions are here. Applications are due in 75 days.


Low Carbon Transportation Materials Program


Applications are closed for the new low-carbon transportation materials grant program, and U.S. DOT is currently reviewing those submissions. FAQs, fact sheets, and informational webinars are available here.


Our friends at the National Concrete Pavement Association have established a consortium of engineers and researchers to help guide State DOTs, contractors and consulting firms on how to take advantage of this new funding stream. Their resources and materials are here: https://rc3.acpa.org/.

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