WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new summary from the National Wildlife Federation’s Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization Program highlights that the bipartisan infrastructure law, if responsibly implemented in collaboration with local leaders, can make transformational investments in urban and rural communities. The National Wildlife Federation urged the Biden Administration and Congress to ensure the historic law is intentionally implemented in a way that centers race and environmental justice.

“The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has the potential to make transformational investments in water, energy, building and transportation infrastructure if our leaders intentionally center frontline communities,” Mustafa Santiago Ali, vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation. “If we don’t, our leaders at the federal, state, and local levels will create and perpetuate the types of injustices that have left Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other communities of color behind for generations. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to help our most vulnerable communities move from surviving to thriving.”

Plans for spending the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding vary significantly across race, communities and geographic locations. The newly released summary highlights specific investments within the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act that have the potential to aid and lift up communities.

The National Wildlife Federation is committed to delivering the latest information to ensure vulnerable communities are able to benefit from these historic investments. This summary is designed to serve as a useful starting point for local stakeholders. The summary covers key areas including: 

• Broadband: $65 billion allocated overall for grants to states for broadband deployment and other efforts to address access issues in rural areas and low-income communities.
• Energy: More than $62 billion invested to increase the access to reliable, clean and affordable power across the country and investments in energy manufactures and technological developments.
• Resilience: $47 billion allocated overall for resiliency in areas such as flood mitigation, wildfire, drought, coastal resiliency, waste management, ecosystem restoration and weatherization.
• Transportation Infrastructure: $110 billion allocated overall for roads, bridges, & major projects. This will fund a new, dedicated grant program to replace and repair bridges and increases funding for the major project grant programs.
• Water: $55 billion allocated to upgrade and maintain our nation’s drinking water and clean water infrastructure.=
• Western Water Infrastructure: Authorizes and appropriates $8.3 billion for FY 2022-2026 for Bureau of Reclamation western water infrastructure.
  

Download the full summary here.