WASHINGTON — Passage by Congress on a bipartisan basis of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is being greeted positively by a wide range of industry trade associations, including the American Trucking Associations (ATA), Tire Industry Association (TIA) and U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA).
The House of Representatives passed the bill, H.R. 3684, Nov. 5 by a bipartisan vote of 228 to 206. The bill still awaits President Joseph Biden's signature.
The bill will provide $550 billion in spending above budget baseline over five years and includes the text of Senate Bill 1931 — the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee surface transportation reauthorization bill that passed the Committee in May — which TIA supported.
Passage of the bill "bolsters highway safety, creates new career pathways into trucking, reinforces the supply chain with overdue investments, and provides a foundation for long-term economic growth," the ATA said in a prepared statement.
"Roads and bridges are not political — we all drive on them," ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said. "A majority in the House realized this today and did what's right for the country, not themselves.
"From farmers to truckers, the millions of hard-working people who make this country great won today. Those lawmakers who put their constituents before themselves to help seal this achievement have cemented a lasting legacy that the American people will now see, feel, and use for many decades to come."
The bill calls for a 38% increase in road and bridge funding, according to the ATA, which said passage of a comprehensive infrastructure investment bill has long been a tier-one priority for the association, which comprises over 34,000 motor carriers and industry suppliers throughout the U.S.
In its statement, the USTMA noted that the bill will enable the U.S. to uphold commitments made on climate change and bolster resiliency efforts throughout the nation while also including provisions that support the advancement of scrap tire markets through research on innovative pavement materials and stormwater control systems.
"While the process getting us to this point wasn't easy, it's the ultimate result that matters," USTMA President and CEO Anne Forristall Luke said, "and the USTMA and its members believe our work has only just begun.
As the administration begins to roll out the research and procurement programs within the bill, Ms. Forristal Luke said the USTMA "will be collaborating with Congress to ensure innovative technologies like rubber-modified asphalt and tire-derived aggregate are available for integration into sustainable infrastructure projects that will benefit the entire nation."
The USTMA has been engaged with Congress on the infrastructure package since May, issuing statements of support at several key points of the negotiation process.
TIA called the legislation "vitally important bill that will make historic investments in roads and bridges, improve roadway safety, and make our roads more reliable and dependable for all highway users."
The bipartisan infrastructure legislation includes increases for highway funding via formula, increases roadway safety investment, important streamlining provisions, significant bridge investments, and preserves flexibility to invest in both new capacity and improvements to existing roadways, TIA said.
According to TIA's assessment of the bill, key funding highlights include:
- $351 billion for highways over five years from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) and General Fund ($307 billion or 90% provided as formula apportionments to states.) This is a 34%increase in highway elements from the Highway Trust Fund over funding levels in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act);
- Transit — $91 billion;
- Highway Safety (NHTSA/FMCSA) — $12 billion;
- Passenger Rail — $66 billion; and
- Bridges — $12.5 billion over five years to fund competitive grants to address the nationwide backlog of bridge repair and rehabilitation projects; and $27.5 billion for a new bridge formula program to provide funding to states and tribal governments to repair and rebuild bridges.
TIA's membership approved a resolution Nov. 1 in support of an infrastructure investment program, provided it doesn't rely on "unreasonable and unfair" funding proposals such as:
- reinstating a federal excise tax on passenger tires or tread rubber;
- raising the FET on trucks, truck tires and parts;
- adopting a vehicle-miles-traveled tax;
- raising the tax on motor fuel;
- privatize up to 47,000 miles of interstate highway; or
- repealing the Last In/First Out accounting system.
The final bill appears to adhere to these provisions, TIA CEO Roy Littlefield III said.