After a more than 15-hour markup session, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure advanced legislation to invest nearly $60 billion to make the country’s infrastructure more sustainable, resilient and equitable, while reducing carbon emissions.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), chair of the committee, said the legislation was a key step in addressing climate change and equity in the transportation sector.
“From tackling climate change, to addressing racial and environmental injustices, to building back better after the COVID-19 pandemic, our nation faces big challenges. By advancing this legislation, we’re taking a key step forward in addressing those challenges,” DeFazio said. “With this legislation, we can reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector that’s driving the climate crisis and make communities more resilient to extreme weather events; connect people with good-paying jobs and affordable housing; address the planning mistakes of the past by reconnecting communities; make meaningful investments to plan for and develop high-speed rail projects; provide more people access to clean water; and make our aviation and maritime sectors greener.”
The Committee’s portion of the budget reconciliation bill includes funding for transportation access, local surface transportation projects and carbon emissions reductions projects.
Specifically, the bill includes $10 billion to support access to affordable housing and to enhance mobility for low-income individuals and residents in disadvantaged communities; $4 billion for carbon pollution reduction in the surface transportation sector; $4 billion to support neighborhood equity, safety and affordable transportation access; $1 billion for the Department of Transportation to support low-emission technology and sustainable aviation fuel projects; and $425 million for projects updating, enhancing, retrofitting or constructing emergency operation centers on state, local, tribal or territorial land.