Reviewing the Recovery Act

Infrastructure Watch has been following the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) since it was enacted. While infrastructure accounted for a relatively small amount of the total supplementary appropriations provided by ARRA, tens of billions of dollars is noteworthy in any industry. Much of the money that went to infrastructure has been spent and ARRA will begin a slow wind-down from the perspective of infrastructure. It seems like a good time for a review of the program and it effects so far.

INFASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

ARRA committed only a fraction of its supplementary appropriations to infrastructure. Even so, the $62 billion appropriated to transportation and water infrastructure was significant considering that federal spending in this area had been declining. In 2009, this resulted in a $6 billion increase in federal infrastructure spending, of which $4 billion was directly from ARRA.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that 90 percent of these funds will be spent by 2013. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) had reported that 90 percent of the highway funds had been obligated by February 2010 and about a quarter of that had been paid out to state transportation programs. The clean water and drinking water state revolving fund (SRF) programs had drawn almost 80 percent of the funds by June 2011.

The author and others working in these industries are already looking for what projects or business lines might have the potential to bring in revenues as the ARRA well runs dry in a few years. The prospects aren’t entirely gloomy. Generally, the federal government accounts for only 25 percent of the spending on transportation and water infrastructure. The rest comes almost entirely from state and local governments.

Though federal funding is a minority of the investment in infrastructure, it is a significant portion of the capital investment, with relatively little going to operations and maintenance. This trend continued with ARRA. Smart Growth America criticized ARRA because to much went the construction of new transportation assets and too little to repairing existing infrastructure. They thought the extra appropriation would have been better spent and had a greater economic stimulus if more of it had been spent on the repair of existing infrastructure.

Maintenance of Effort
Though states are already a significant contributor to spending on transportation efforts, ARRA required states to continue funding transportation at the level they would have without the extra funding. Congress wanted to increase spending on transportation infrastructure, not give states a way to shift money to other areas.

The requirement has proven problematic. States are facing losses of revenue that may have forced them to cut transportation spending anyway. In addition, ARRA didn’t require to report what there level of effort would be until several months after they began to use the funds. States may not have, strictly speaking, circumvented the maintenance of effort requirement, but it has become difficult to say they have continued funding as they would have anyway.

JOBS CREATION
ARRA recipients reported more than 580,000 full time equivalent (FTE) jobs in he last quarter of 2010. The way jobs are reported by recipients makes it difficult to determine the exact impact of ARRA on jobs.

ARRA recipients report work-hours that were paid for out of the ARRA funding. In the case of an infrastructure project, these work hours might involve construction trades, construction management, engineering design and oversight, and other services (legal, environmental, and more). The nature of these jobs means that the people may be working part-time on ARRA projects while working part-time on other projects, or temporarily work full time on an ARRA project. It is easy to add up the hours and calculate an FTE. It is difficult to know if any of these jobs were created ARRA, or if they might have ended except of ARRA, or might not have been affected.

This type of reporting has a built-in decline as ARRA money is spent down and projects end. Reported ARRA-related jobs is already declining in the SRF programs. ARRA-related jobs reported from SRF programs peaked in the Spring of 2010 and have declined since. Some foresaw a post-stimulus jobs drop even as it was just getting off the ground.

The author is an example these features of jobs reporting, ARRA work having accounted of about a quarter of an FTE in relation to him over the last 19 months. It’s impossible to say what, if any, other work the author may have done if not involved in ARRA projects; he’s glad to have good projects from wherever they come. When he transfers his effort to other work, hopefully, over the next year or so, his hours reported for ARRA will decline and end.

In addition, only some of the ARRA-funded programs are required to report jobs. Those that report jobs only have to trace them so far, to primary contractors and their subcontracts. It is a practical impossibility to count the jobs created or retained by such a program.

Even so, CBO made a go at estimating it. They estimate that ARRA increased the number of people employed by between 1.3 million and 3.5 million in the last quarter of 2010.

CONSTRUCTION COSTS
In the years before ARRA, construction costs had been rising more rapidly that prices the rest of the economy. Bucking that trend, GAO reported that many ARRA-funded projects were receiving bids that were lower than expected. The author has heard from water utilities and state revolving fund programs that a similar trend is occurring in drinking water and wastewater projects.

The thought is that the recession has made the environment very competitive and more bidders are going after each job. In response, contractors are taking minimal profits in order to get projects and stay afloat until the economy recovers. The Associate General Contractors of America has even suggested that contractors have bid projects at less than cost for that purpose.

This drop in bid prices is a reflection of the economic environment, not a response to ARRA. The touted “bid savings” that have ostensibly allowed the ARRA dollars to stretch farther have provide the same benefit to all the other money spent on construction.

MACROECONOMICS
CBO estimates that ARRA increased the gross domestic products (GDP) by between 1.1 percent and 3.5 percent in the last quarter of 2010.

FEDERAL DEFICIT
CBO estimates that the ARRA will increase budget deficits by $821 billion between 2009 and 2019. They estimated 70 percent of that, approximately $575 billion, was realized by the end of September 2010.

REFERENCES
The following references were used in the preparation of this review of ARRA.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October 2010 Through December 2010. Washington, DC: CBO, 2011.

-----. Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure. Washington, DC: CBO, 2011.

Cooper, M. Companies pretty up prices to win stimulus projects. New York Times. March 28, 2009.

Farley, R., & Grabell, M. ProPublica and PolitiFact test Obama claims on stimulus. ProPublica. Nov. 10, 2010.

Fields, G. Job cuts loom as stimulus fades. Wall Street Journal. Dec. 1, 2009.

Government Accountability Office (GAO). Recovery Act: Funding Uses for Transportation Infrastructure Projects, but Some Requirements Proved Challenging. Washington, DC: GAO, 2011.

-----. Recovery Act: Funds Supported Many Water Projects, and Federal and State Monitoring Shows Few Compliance Problems. Washington, DC: GAO, 2011.

-----. Recovery Act: One Year Later, States’ and Localities’ Uses of Funds and Opportunities to Strengthen Accountability. Washington, DC: GAO, 2010.

Smart Growth America. Recent Lessons from the Stimulus: Transportation Funding and Jobs Creation. Washington, DC: Smart Growth America, 2011.

The following references are offered for those interested in additional information on ARRA.

Infrastructure Watch (blog). Coverage of infrastructure economic stimulus. May 14, 2009.

-----. Coverage of infrastructure in economic stimulus. Apr. 14, 2009.

-----. Government Accountability Office watches Recovery Act implementation. August 23, 2010.

-----. Infrastructure & recovery news. Oct. 8, 2010.

-----. Infrastructure & stimulus news. June 17, 2010.

-----. Infrastructure economic stimulus in the news. July 1, 2009.

-----. Infrastructure stimulus. Jan. 27, 2011.

-----. Recovery Act and infrastructure in the news. Jan. 26, 2010.

-----. Recovery Act and infrastructure in the news & elsewhere. Aug. 1, 2009.

-----. Recovery Act and infrastructure news. May, 11, 2010.

-----. Recovery & stimulus news. Mar. 25, 2011.

-----. Show me the money: Stimulus & infrastructure news. July 7, 2010.

-----. Summary of transportation stimulus oversight findings. Sept. 27, 2009.

-----. USDOT redirects high-speed rail stimulus away from slow states. Dec. 21, 2010.

McNamar, T. Profiles from the recession. Blueprint America (blog). Sept. 15, 2010.

Recovery Act Review

Economic Impacts of ARRA 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports quarterly on the estimated economic impact of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA).  In its report for the third quarter of 2012, it estimated that ARRA funded more than 135, 000 jobs (full-time equivalents, or FTEs).  It expects 90 percent of ARRA’s budget impacts will be realized by the end of the year.  It projects that ARRA will increase they budget deficit by $833 billion by 2019, up from its original estimate of $787 billion.

Cleanup Projects

 The Department of Energy (DOE) received $6 billion from ARRA for the cleanup of DOE-managed sites that produced nuclear material.  According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, ARRA-funded jobs peaked in the fourth quarter of 2010 at about 11,000 FTEs.  They reduced the footprint of managed sites by 70 percent; that is they cleaned up more than 650 square miles.

Beginning with ARRA, DOE implemented a project management approach that broke down projects into more manageable pieces.  GAO found that this practice may have allowed the agency to classify projects in a way that may have allowed them to avoid certain review processes.  In addition, inconsistencies in developing project scope, schedules and targets, along with variability in documentation, makes it difficult to accurately assess and compare project and program performance.

State and Local Management of ARRA

State and local governments had significant responsibilities in managing ARRA funds as recipients.  GAO reported findings related to their review of state and local management.  Some of those findings include:

-The emphasis on obligating ARRA funds resulted in delayed obligation of other funds.

-Recipient expertise effected the management of ARRA funds.  Particularly, state agencies tended to have more success in managing their ARRA projects that local agencies because of greater familiarity with federal requirements.

-Unclear guidance caused problems for various projects.

-Internal controls of some recipients were not adequate, at least at the start, for monitoring compliance with ARRA requirements.

Related posts and articles

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act New (Infrastructure Watch, Dec. 4, 2012)

Coverage of Infrastructure Economic Stimulus (Infrastructure Watch, May 14, 2009)

Economic Stimulus Funds 2000 Transportation Projects (Infrastructure Watch, Apr. 14, 2009)

Government Accountability Office Watches Recovery Act Implementation (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 23, 2010)

Infrastructure & Stimulus News (Infrastructure Watch, June 17, 2010)

Missouri Top State in Wastewater Stimulus Funding Use (Infrastructure Watch, Mar. 28, 2010)

News about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (Infrastructure Watch, Sept. 14, 2011)

Recovery Act Infrastructure Criticism (Infrastructure Watch, Sept. 18, 2012)

Recovery and Stimulus News (Infrastructure Watch, Mar. 25, 2011)

Reviewing the Recovery Act (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 2, 2011)

States Obligate All Highway Stimulus Funds (Infrastructure Watch, Mar. 10, 2010)

Summary of Transportation Stimulus Oversight Findings (Infrastructure Watch, Sept. 27, 2009)

Government Accountability Office Watches Recovery Act Implementation

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has monitored the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)and issued several reports. Some of the issues raised by the GAO are summarized below.

Jobs Reporting
ARRA requires assistance recipients to report on jobs created and retained by their projects. GAO found that there were inconsistencies in guidance and the calculation of full time equivalents (FTEs) that might affect the reported figures and the aggregation of jobs. They believed that recipients were making a good faith effort to report correctly.

Federal Requirements Effect Project Timing, Selection, Starts
GAO found that federal agencies and states reported that federal requirements related to ARRA affected the timing, selection, and starts of projects. The requirements that seemed to have the most effect were Davis-Bacon and Buy American.

The Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors on federal projects to pay local prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics. Generally, it applies to direct contracts with the federal government. It applies to all projects that are funded with ARRA funds. Timing of some projects was effected by this requirement. It seems likely that this is because these requirements are new to 40 programs because of the attachment of the requirement to ARRA funds.

The ARRA Buy American requirements are new to all the affected programs. The selection and start of some projects were effected by this requirement.

Though some projects were affected by federal requirements, it appears they have caused few significant problems for overall program implementation. Only a few agencies surveyed by GAO reported major problems.

The information for this post was draw from these GAO reports:
Officials’ Views Vary on Impacts of Davis-Bacon Act Prevailing Wage Provision (
GAO-10-421)
Project Selection and Starts Are Influenced by Certain Federal Requirements and Other Factors (GAO-10-383)
Recipient Reported Jobs Data Provide Some Insight into Use of Recovery Act Funding, but Data Quality and Reporting Issues Need Attention (GAO-10-223)

GAO has also issued these reports on ARRA:
One Year Later, States’ and Localities’ Uses of Funds and Opportunities to Strengthen Accountability (GAO-10-437)
California’s Use of Funds and Efforts to Ensure Accountability (GAO-10-467T)
Clean Water Projects Are Underway, but Procedures May Not Be in Place to Ensure Adequate Oversight (GAO-10-761T)
Contracting Approaches and Oversight Used by Selected Federal Agencies and States (GAO-10-809)
Factors Affecting the Department of Energy's Program Implementation (GAO-10-497T)
Increasing the Public’s Understanding of What Funds Are Being Spent on and What Outcomes Are Expected (GAO-10-581)
Recipient Reported Jobs Data Provide Some Insight into Use of Recovery Act Funding, but Data Quality and Reporting Issues Need Attention (GAO-10-224T)
States’ and Localities’ Uses of Funds and Actions Needed to Address Implementation Challenges and Bolster Accountability (GAO-10-604)
States’ Use of Highway and Transit Funds and Efforts to Meet the Act’s Requirements (GAO-10-312T)

Check out these posts and articles for additional information on ARRA:
Infrastructure & Stimulus News
Recovery Act and Infrastructure in the News
Recovery Act and Infrastructure News
Show Me the Money: Stimulus & Infrastructure News
States Obligate All Highway Stimulus Funds
What’s Up in Congress

ARRA Still News

Here is a summary of some recent news about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

OSHA Activities Under the Recovery Act (Department of Labor, July 16, 2013)

OSHA, State Plans Did Not Use Almost Half Of Allocated Recovery Act Funds, Audit Finds (Rolfsen, B., Bloomberg BNA, July 25, 2013)

Upgraded Palm Springs Airport tower ready for increased business (Descant, S., Desert Sun, July 26, 2013)

Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October 2012 Through December 2012 (Congressional Budget Office, Feb. 2013)

In Congress (Infrastructure Watch, Feb. 22, 2013)

In Shovels, a Remedy for Jobs and Growth (Porter, E., New York Times Economic Scene, Feb. 12, 2013)

INSPECTOR GENERAL QUESTIONS $12 MILLION IN SMART GRID RECOVERY-RELATED COSTS (Recovery.gov, Feb. 20, 2013)

Crumbling Pipes and Underground Waste: A Glimpse at Our Ailing Sewer System (PBS News Hour, Jan. 3, 2013)

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act News (Infrastructure Watch, Dec. 4, 2012)

Recovery Act Review (Infrastructure Watch, Dec. 4, 2012)

Waiver From Rescission of Unobligated Funds Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Obama, B., Federal Register 77, 70883, Nov. 27, 2012)

Clean-energy subsidies are vanishing. What should replace them? (Plumer, B., Washington Post Wonkblog, Apr. 18, 2012)

Google

News about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act

Caldecott Tunnel Edges Forward, Tribute to Stimulus Bill (Elinson, Z., New York Times, September 10, 2011)
DOT’s August Stimulus Payouts Near $700 Million (Boyd, J. D., Journal of Commerce, September 12, 2011)

Could Unspent Stimulus Money Be Used to Fend Off a New Recession? (Grabel, M., ProPublica, August 9, 2011)
DOT Pays $208 Million in Stimulus in Latest Week (Boyd, J. D., Journal of Commerce Online, August 22, 2011)
The End of an ARRA (Center for an Urban Future, August 2011)
The End of ARRA (InfrastructureUSA, August 22, 2011)
Reviewing the Recovery Act (Infrastructure Watch, August 2, 2011)

Recovery Act: Funding Used for Transportation Infrastructure Projects, but Some Requirements Proved Challenging (Government Accountability Office, GAO-11-600, June 2011)
Recovery Act: Funds Supported Many Water Projects, and State and Federal Monitoring Shows Few Compliance Problems (Government Accountability Office, GAO-11-608, June 2011)

Recovery & Stimulus News (Infrastructure Watch, March 25, 2011)

Summary of Transportation Stimulus Oversight Findings

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been watching the use of transportation funds provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). Here are some of their major findings.

-Bids for projects have often come in lower than expected because of the number of contractors looking for work.

-State selection of distressed areas to receive priority for stimulus projects may be based on criteria other than those specified in ARRA.

-States are emphasizing pavement rehabilitation and repair because these projects require less design work and environmental review.

-States are modifying their systems to track stimulus funds.

-States are concerned about the ability of other funding recipients to track stimulus funds.

-States may have trouble complying with the requirement to not reduce their levels of effort in areas covered by ARRA because of fiscal constraints (and the temptation to not put money where you have money).

-States vary in how they intend to assess the impact of stimulus funds, but many are concerned about hot to assess the impact on jobs.

You can find out more about these findings from these GAO reports:
Recover Act: Initial Results on States’ Use of and Accountability for Transportation Funds (GAO-09-597T)
Recovery Act: States’ and Localities’ Current and Planned Uses of Funds while Facing Fiscal Stress (GAO-09-831T)
Recover Act: States’ Use of Highway Infrastructure Funds and Compliance with the Act’s Requirements (GAO-09-926T)

Bill Watch—111th Congress

Amended Dec. 21, 2010.

H.R. 1—American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Obama Signs Stimulus Bill
Transportation Secretary Discusses Economic Stimulus Package
House Passes Stimulus Bill
Drinking Water Not Getting as Much of Stimulus Package as Advocates Hoped
Congress to Consider Recovery Bill
Drinking Water Investment Could Create 400,000 Jobs
Drinking Water News

H.R. 537 - Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2009

H.R. 651—Northeast Corridor Rail Tunnel Safety Act
Amtrak May Benefit from Tunnel Bill

H.R. 1145--National Water Research and Development Initiative Act of 2009
House Passes National Water Research and Development Initiative Act
National Water Research & Development Initiative Reported Out of House Committee

H.R. 1262—Water Quality Investment Act of 2009
House Passes Water Quality Investment Act of 2009

H.R. 1682--Bridge Life Extension Act of 2009
Bridge Bill Could Require States to Address Corrosion

H.R. 1770—Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2009
Congress Considers Dam Safety Bills

H.R. 2104--Safety, Efficiency, and Accountability in Transportation Projects Through Public Inspection Act of 2009
Bill Would Require Surface Transportation Inspections by Public Employees

H.R. 2164—Federal Streetcar Revitalization Act of 2009
Bill Introduced to Bring Back the Streetcar

H.R. 2232
Bill Would Create National Tunnel Inspection Program

H.R. 2521—National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2009
Another National Infrastructure Bank Bill Proposed

H.R. 2707—National Freight Mobility Infrastructure Act
Bill Introduced to Improve, Tax Freight Transportation

H.R. 2847 – Jobs for Main Street Act
House Passes Jobs for Main Street Act

H.R. 2997 - Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
Farm Bill Includes Environmental Funding
Water Roundup

H.R. 3183 - Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act
Water Legislation — recycling, research, efficiency
Water Roundup

H.R. 3202—Water Protection and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Water Infrastructure Funding Bill Introduced

H.R. 3747 - Water Efficiency, Conservation and Adaptation Act of 2009
Clean Energy and Drinking Water Bills Working Way through Congress

H.R. 3598 - Energy and Water Research Integration Act
Water Legislation — recycling, research, efficiency
Water Roundup



H.R. 3727 - Drinking Water Adaptation, Technology, Education, and Research (WATER) Act
Environmental, Energy Bills Introduced in Congress

H.R. 4202 – Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act
Blog coverage of H.R. 4202 from OpenCongress
Green Infrastructure Bill Introduced

H.R. 5679 – End the Stimulus Advertisement Act
What’s Up in Congress

H.R 5892 - Water Resources Development Act of 2010
Congressional Activity
H.R.5892 - Water Resources Development Act of 2010

H.R. 5897 - Economic Revitalization and Innovation Act of 2010
Congressional Activity

H.R. 5899 - A Roadmap for America’s Energy Future
Congressional Activity

H.R. 5922 - Small-Scale Hydropower Enhancement Act of 2010
Congressional Activity

H.R. 6182 – additional SRF funding for smart growth states
National News

H.R. 6190 - Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2010, Part III
National News

H.R. 6519 – Railroad Hours of Service Act of 2010
111th Congress Wrapping Up

S. 732—Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2009
Congress Considers Dam Safety Bills

S. 841 – Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010
111th Congress Wrapping Up

S. 1318—Axe the Stimulus Plaques Act
Bill Would Axe Stimulus Plaques

S. 1498—Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009
Senate to Debate Extension of Transportation Programs

S. 1711 - Water Efficiency and Conservation Investment Act of 2009
Environmental, Energy Bills Introduced in Congress

S. 1712 - Water Efficiency, Conservation and Adaptation Act of 2009
Clean Energy and Drinking Water Bills Working Way through Congress

S. 1713 - Water Efficiency via Carbon Harvesting and Restoration (WECHAR) Act of 2009
Environmental, Energy Bills Introduced in Congress

S. 1733 – Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act
Clean Energy and Drinking Water Bills Working Way through Congress

S. 3262 – Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2010
America has Huge Need for Water Infrastructure Improvements

S. 3553 – Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act of 2010
What’s Up in Congress

S. 3561 – Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act of 2010
What’s Up in Congress

S. 3736
Congressional Activity

Missouri Communities Receive $1.36 Mill in Brownfield Grants

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today the availability of an estimated $1,360,000 in grants, bolstered by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to help communities in Missouri clean brownfields. The grants, which include $800,000 from the Recovery Act of 2009 and $560,000 from the EPA brownfields general program funding, will help restore former industrial and commercial sites to productive use.

Successful applicants in Missouri include:

-Kansas City which will receive $200,000 in Recovery Act funds to clean up the former Greyhound Bus Terminal as part of the East Village Project.

-Springfield which will receive $200,000 in Recovery Act funds to clean up the Jordan Valley West Meadows Site 4.

-Springfield which will receive $400,000 in Recovery Act funds to address community-wide hazardous waste and petroleum.

-Beacon Hill Homeowners Association (Kansas City) which will receive $160,000 in brownfields general program funds to clean up four lots in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

-St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority which will receive $400,000 to clean up hazardous waste and the former ATCOM Site, and to clean up petroleum at the Former Porter Oil Site.

The grants will help to assess, clean up and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

For more information on brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund pilots and grants, and other brownfields activities under the Recovery Act, go to: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm.

For more information on the EPA Region 7 brownfields recipients and their pilots, go to: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

Missouri Plans for SRF Funds from the Recovery Act

Missouri has released plans for more than $146 million for drinking water and wastewater made available by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Copies of the plans (one covers the clean water state revolving fund [SRF] and the other the drinking water SRF) are available here along with instructions for submitting comments. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is accepting comments on the plans until June 3.

Missouri is the only state in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 that has not received its portion of these funds. The other states in that region are Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

Related articles and posts:
EPA Announces $24 Million Recovery Act Funds for Water Infrastructure Projects in Iowa to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect Public Health
EPA Announces $53 Million Recovery Act Funds for Wastewater Infrastructure Projects in Iowa to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect the Environment
EPA Announces $19.5 Million in Stimulus Funds for Water Infrastructure Projects in Kansas to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect Public Health
EPA Announces $35 Million in Recovery Act for Wastewater Infrastructure Projects in Kansas to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect Public Health
EPA Announces $19.5 Million in Stimulus Funds for Water Infrastructure Projects in Nebraska to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect Public Health
EPA Announces $20 Million in Stimulus Funds for Wastewater Infrastructure Projects in Nebraska to Boost Economy, Create Jobs and Protect the Environment

Recovery Act and Infrastructure in the News

Stimulus Brings Broadband to Rural Areas (CBS News, Jan. 25, 2010)

Job Cuts Loom as Stimulus Fades (Wall Street Journal, Dec. 1, 2009)

Missouri Environment & Infrastructure Roundup (Infrastructure Watch, Nov. 14, 2009)

President Obama And U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Visit Virginia’s Largest Recovery Act Project (U.S. Dept. of Transportation news release, Oct 14, 2009)
Missouri submits initial report on investment of Recovery Act funds (Missouri Governor’s Office news release, Oct. 10, 2009)

Treasury, Energy Surpass $1 Billion Milestone in Recovery Act Awards for Clean Energy Projects (U.S. Department of Energy news release, Sept. 22, 2009)

Missouri Receives Stimulus Funds for Drinking Water and Wastewater (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 20, 2009)
Missouri Receives Stimulus Funds for Brownfields Redevelopment (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 13, 2009)
Stimulus Funds 6,000 Highway Projects (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 13, 2009)
Recovery Act and Infrastructure in the News & Elsewhere (Infrastructure Watch, Aug. 1, 2009)

What You Are Looking For

Infrastructure Watch is not above self-promotion, but we try to focus on the topics related to infrastructure and the environment.  Even so, we got a little curious about what draws readers this blog.  We checked out the top Google search terms that linked people to this blog.  They are:

Infrastructurist blog

We noted the farewell of The Infrastructurist, a blog that was more professional, better researched and better written that IW.

On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis

On this blog (and on Keenan’s Book Reviews), contributor Keenan Patterson posted a review of Warren Bennis’ classic leadership book that he wrote for a class back in 1997.  Judging from the popularity of this search, it is still assigned reading in many classes. 

Plagiarists beware, if you can find this review so easily, so can your professor.  If you just need to talk about the book as if you’ve read it, good luck.  You might also want to check out Keenan’s review of How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard.

Blogger

IW isn’t a prominent blog, but apparently referring to yourself as a blogger who makes no money from it (and linking to the complaint on your Google Plus page) is enough to get you in the top search results for the topic.  Now everyone will be doing it.

Recovery Act infrastructure criticism

IW hasn’t exactly been a critic of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA), at least not when it comes to the infrastructure funding that was part of the supplementary appropriations bill.  An IW contributor spent a fair amount of time doing ARRA-funded work in 2011 (I think we just mention this blog has not made any money, though it would be nice if it did).  Even so, we’ve posted several things related to ARRA including a summary of reviews of the program’s performance.

Whatever your reason for visiting Infrastructure Watch, thank you.  We hope you find the posts and links here useful.  In addition, thanks to those who link to us on your blogs and social networking profiles.  We welcome comments, especially from other professionals in environmental and infrastructure design, planning, construction, management and policy.

Infrastructure & Stimulus News

County plans paving projects using recovery act funds (The Progress, June 4, 2010)
Madison Suburban Utility District to be upgraded (Humbles, A., The Tennessean, June 8, 2010)
State recognized for efficient use of ARRA funds for water projects (Huntington News, June 8, 2010)

$1.5 Million Waldron Dam Work To Start (Times Record, May 18, 2010)
ARRA funds play key role in putting Americans to work, report stays (The Trucker, May 11, 2010)
Highway Paint Is in Short Supply: Outages reduced supply of key ingredient as stimulus work kicked up demand (Parsons, J., Engineering News-Record, May 26, 2010)
Maryland’s Largest ARRA Transportation Project Gets Started (GovMonitor, May 18, 2010)
Missouri communities have put out for bid, awarded and started construction of projects totaling 100% of the state's allocation (Daily Dunklin Democrat, May 21, 2010)
Missouri Top State in Wastewater Stimulus Funding Use (Infrastructure Watch, May 28, 2009)
Recovery Act and Infrastructure News (Infrastructure Watch, May 11, 2010)

In Congress

Balancing Act

The Balancing Act (H.R. 505) has been referred to several committees of the House of Representatives. The bill is intended to delay sequestrations, improve efficiency, reduce tax loopholes, and extend some programs. Some of the infrastructure related highlights of the bill include

-elimination of several tax breaks related to fossil fuels,

-immediate appropriations for air and surface transportation,

-create an infrastructure bank called the American Infrastructure Financing Authority,

-extending certain tax exemptions on bonds.

If Congress would like to put this blogger to work, it should end this ongoing threat of sequestration and agree on a budget.

Congressional Budget Office Releases 4Q2012 Recover Act Report

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report on the economic impact of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) for the last quarter of 2012. During that period, ARRA funded 113,000 full-time-equivalent jobs (FTEs), though this figure does not necessarily correlate to increased jobs in the economy. CBO estimates the economic impacts for the reporting quarter to be

-0.1 to 0.6 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP),

-0.1 to 0.4 percentage point decrease in unemployment, and

-increased the number of people employed by between 0.1 million and 0.8 million.

Fix It First

President Barack Obama’s Fix-It-First proposal has received some fairly gentile criticism from House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (PA). The plan would provide an additional appropriation of $50 million to transportation projects ($40 million to transportation programs and $10 million to capitalize an infrastructure bank). Rep. Shuster says the proposal fails to address the long-term issue of transportation funding. Current transportation funding sources bring in $35 billion annually, but Congress has approved spending of more than $50 billion annually. You can read more about this issue at The Hill.

DOT Inspector General Gets Extension to Spend Stimulus Funds

The American Recovery and Investment Act (ARRA) provided funds for inspectors general at agencies receiving supplementary appropriations through the act to conduct investigations related to the spending of the funds, oversight of projects, and compliance with special requirements.  A subsequent act directed act (the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) required the return to the Treasury of unobligated ARRA funds after December 31, 2012, unless the president found it was not in the national interest to do so.  At the request of several inspectors general, including the one at the Department of Transportation, President Barack Obama waived the recession of ARRA funds for the inspectors general so they could continue long-term investigations and oversight.

Missouri Environment & Infrastructure Roundup

Department of Natural Resources Suffers from Low Revenues

Due to low economic activity in the state, several fee-supported funds at the Department of Natural Resources are projected to run out of money in the near future. These funds, mostly raised through permit fees, support activities related to water pollution, air pollution, solid waste and hazardous waste.

In addition, the water pollution fees will sunset if they are not reauthorized by the General Assembly. The department could seek to have the fees increased as part of the reauthorization, but this seems unlikely.

Related articles:
DNR short of funds; fees set to expire

State Gets Stimulus Funds for Railroad Improvements
Missouri was awarded $31 million for high-speed rail projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The recovery act funding will be used for three projects:-a second rail bridge over the Osage River that will eliminate delays caused by a bottleneck, plus additional crossovers that will reduce maintenance flexibility;

-a universal crossover near the Kirkwood Amtrak station that will ease the flow of passenger trains into and out of the St. Louis area; and

-safety improvements at several rail crossings, primarily west of Sedalia.

It will also fund preliminary engineering on six future improvement projects. Some of these projects are double tracks between Lee's Summit and Pleasant Hill, a passing siding at Kingsville, a grade separation at Strasburg, a passing siding extension at Knob Noster and universal crossovers - a device that allows trains to crossover to another track in either direction - at Bonnots Mill and Hermann.

Missouri won funding as part of a consortium of states that were awarded $2.6 billion of the $8 billion in ARRA funds available for high-speed rail corridor improvements. The consortium, known as the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, includes Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

You can read the original Missouri Department of Transportation news release here.

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act News

$1 of Highway Spending Creates $2 of Economic Activity (Infrastructure Watch, Dec. 4, 2012)

Recovery Act: Most DOE Cleanup Projects Are Complete, but Project Management Guidance Could Be Strengthened (Government Accountability Office, Oct. 15, 2012)

GSA REPORT: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION BROKE STIMULUS RULES TO BUY CHINESE SOLAR PANELS (Hayward, J., Human Events, Sept. 25, 2012)

Feds ignore rules and use stimulus cash to buy Chinese solar panels (McElhatton, J., Washington Times, Sept. 17, 2012)

FL: Millions in fraud, waste rampant in federal energy stimulus, reveals state audit (Ossowski, Y., FloridaWatchdog.org, July 26, 2012)

Improving the Timeliness of Grant Closeouts by Federal Agencies and other Grant Management Challenges (Government Accountability Office, July 25, 2012)

Transportation Sec. LaHood jabs Republican critics of stimulus (Yokley, E., PoliticMo, July 10, 2012)

New Chair of Recovery Board Appointed (Recovery.gov, Dec. 27, 2011)

News about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (Infrastructure Watch, Sept. 14, 2011)

Obama Hopes ‘Recovery Summer’ Will Warm Voters to the Stimulus (Cooper, M., New York Times, June 18, 2010)

What’s Up in Congress

Axe the Plaque is Back
Rep. Aaron Schock (IL) has introduced the End the Stimulus Advertisement Act (H.R. 5679), which would prohibit funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) from being used to pay for signs indicating the project is ARRA funded. The bill would also reduce appropriations for administration of ARRA-funded agencies to recover the funds already spent on signs.

Senate Bill Calls for Study of Mississippi River-Great Lakes Separation
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI) introduced the Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act of 2010 (S. 3553). The bill calls for a study by the Corp of Engineers to study the feasibility of hydrologic separation of the basins of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes in order to prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species

Senate Bill Would Establish Green Infrastructure Program, Centers
Sen. Tom Udall (NM) introduced the Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act of 2010 (S. 3561). The bill would establish centers for excellence in green infrastructure throughout the United States and create a green infrastructure program in the Environmental Protection Agency.

Related posts and articles

Bill Watch—111th Congress
Bill Would Axe Stimulus Plaques
Green Infrastructure Bill Introduced
Infrastructure & Stimulus News

In Congress

Congress rolls on, after its fashion, even when a blog pauses. Here is a summary of what our senators and representatives have been up to over the last few weeks.

Acronym Mongers Active in Legislature
The Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act (H.R. 3158) would set limitations for rules the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) might implement to control spills at animal feeding operations. Another bill would constrain EPA (S. 1702) would limit the agency’s regulation of emissions from stationary internal combustion engines used for electric power generation or water pumping, though it doesn’t have a clever name.

The Resources and Economic Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast Act of 2011 (H.R. 3096) would create a Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund to be funded from penalties from the Deepwater Horizon incident. The fund would support restoration efforts in the coastal states on the Gulf of Mexico. The bill would also create five centers for excellence for the study of effects of the spill and the restoration of the Gulf.

Agency Potentially Under the Ax

The EDA Elimination Act of 2011 (H.R. 3090) would repeal the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, which created the Economic Development Agency. The bill has been referred to various committees.

American Jobs Act
The American Jobs Act of 2011 (H.R. 12) rolls together a lot proposals into an omnibus, dare it be spoken, stimulus bill. A significant portion of the bill deals with employment tax relief, other tax reform and supporting education jobs and facilities. Only part of the bill deals with the kind of infrastructure we normally cover at Infrastructure Watch.

-Transportation appropriations. The bill would appropriate $39 billion to air, rail, port and highway transportation programs. In most cases, normal matching requirements would be waived.

-Infrastructure Bank. The bill incorporates the BUILD Act, the main purpose being the creation of a national infrastructure bank.

-Redevelopment. The bill appropriates $15 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make grants for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed properties.

A version of this bill was also introduced in the Senate (S. 1660). There are several other bills intended to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

The Jobs Through Growth Act (S. 1720) would, among other things, limit EPA’s rulemaking authority and ease the way for energy exploration in the continental shelf. The Rebuild America Jobs Act (S. 1769) would fund transportation projects and create an infrastructure bank, and increase taxes on people with incomes of $500,000 or more (I wish I had that kind of problem).

Appropriations
Appropriations acts, the only thing Congress really has to do every year, are making their way through the process.

-The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (H.R. 2608) passed both houses.
-The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (S. 1596) was introduced to the Senate.

Bill Would Suspend Requirements for Highway Projects
Rep. Randy Forbes (VA) has introduced the 414 Plan Act of 2011 (H.R. 2924). The bill would suspend several federal requirements for federal-aid highway projects and highway safety construction. The suspension would last for five years. It would also repeal several laws relating to biking and pedestrian traffic.

Coal Combustion Product Regulation
The House of Representatives passed the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2273). This bill would put regulation of coal combustion products under Subpart D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, essentially putting regulation in the hands of the states and heading off a potential determination from EPA that may have brought it under a federal regulatory program.

Congress Passes Bill to Extend Transportation Programs
Both houses have Congress have passed a bill (H.R. 2887) to extend several surface and air transportation programs through March 31, 2012. Long-term reauthorization is underway (S. 1786).

Related posts and articles
Congress of Deadlines
Congress to Take Up Transportation Bill, Infrastructure Bank
House Passes Transportation Bill

Energy Bill Has Unusual Name, Other Energy Proposals
In spite of its name, the Rebuild American Roads Act (H.R. 2983), would expedite plans for energy resource exploration and drilling in the continental shelf, especially in the Gulf of Mexico. The bills was introduced by Rep. Shelly Moore Capito (WV). The POWER Act (H.R. 2360) would make U.S. laws applicable on energy structures on the outer continental shelf.

The Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011 (H.R. 2842) would smooth the way for the development of hydropower generation projects in Reclamation water conveyances. The Public Lands Renewable Energy Development Act of 2011 (S. 1775) would establish means to permit solar and wind energy projects on public lands and extend existing geothermal development programs.

Missouri River Priorities Contested
Rep. Sam Graves (MO) has introduced a bill (H.R. 2993) that would strike wildlife protection as priority for the Corps of Engineers’ Missouri River management plan and make flood control the top priority. S. 1795 would direct the Corps to address flood control specifically by increasing storage.

National Infrastructure Bank Bill
Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH) has introduced the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2011 (S. 1550). The bank would be board-governed and make loans and loan guarantees of up to half the project cost to public sponsors of a variety of infrastructure projects. The bill would authorize appropriations of up to $5 billion annually through 2015 to capitalize the bank.

The American Jobs Act of 2011 (S. 1549) also includes an infrastructure bank proposal. That bill would establish the American Infrastructure Finance Authority to make loans and loan guarantees for transportation, water and energy infrastructure projects. This provision appears to be very similar to the BUILD Act.

A version of this bill was also introduced into the House of Representatives (H.R. 3259).

Related posts and articles
Calls for Infrastructure Bank Continue
Congress to Take Up Transportation Bill, Infrastructure Bank
President Proposes New Recovery Plan
President Sends Jobs Plan to Congress

Water Resources Infrastructure Bill Hits Senate
The Senate version of the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2011 (S. 1669) has been introduced. A similar bill was previously introduced in the House.

Related posts and articles
Water News: Water Resources Resilience Bill Introduced

Bill Would Rescind Unobligated Stimulus Funds

Rep. Jerry Lewis (CA) has introduced American Recovery and Reinvestment Rescissions Act (H.R. 6403). The bill would rescind all unobligated, discretionary funds from Division A of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). It would also eliminate further funding of ARRA signage (some congressmen have been after those signs from the start).

Related posts and articles:
Infrastructure & Recovery News

Recovery Act and Infrastructure News

Contractors add 14,000 jobs in April (Haughey, J., Reed Construction Data, May 7, 2010)
It Is Time to Get Ready for the Construction Recovery (Haughey, J., Reed Construction Data, May 3, 2010)
Stimulus aids few Georgia bridges (Redmon, J., et al, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 9, 2010)
Stimulus recipients report high job creation during first quarter (Brodsky, R., Government Executive, May 3, 2010)

Highway work expected to fuel demand for cement (Sullivan, A., Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, April 30, 2010)

States Obligate All Highway Stimulus Funds (Infrastructure Watch, March 10, 2010)
Stimulus funds target infrastructure (Showley, R., San Diego Union-Tribune, March 10, 2010)

Agencies find errors in Recovery Act spending reports (Brodsky, R., Government Executive, Feb. 11, 2010)
Missouri Environment & Infrastructure Roundup (Infrastructure Watch, Feb. 1, 2010)
Report finds federal regulations have delayed stimulus projects (Brodsky, R., Government Executive, Feb. 19, 2010)

Massive New Study Confirms Stimulus Spending On Road Construction Does Nothing To Lower Unemployment (Business Insiders, Jan. 11, 2010)
Recovery Act and Infrastructure in the News (Infrastructure Watch, Jan. 26, 2010)