Localities face infrastructure implementation challenges

As a gusher of federal funding rains down on local governments, challenges and solutions are emerging from the front lines.

According to Tampa, Florida Mayor Jane Castor, speaking during a Brookings Institution panel discussion on Thursday in Washington, the city has 31 miles of drinking water pipeline under construction. It also has 34 miles in design and has awarded contracts for over 144 miles of wastewater gravity rehabilitation projects.   

“I know these things to most people aren’t sexy, but it’s absolutely fascinating to me and necessary,” Castor said. “To optimize our resources, we’re exploring alternative installation methods such as pipe bursting, horizontal directional boring, and the fiberglass lining of our wastewater pipes.”  

The mayor attributes the water management success to planning that was already in place before the money started to flow.

The city has been aiming for “smaller scale, quick build projects,” that may appear as low hanging fruit. “Earlier this year, the city of Tampa was awarded a Safe Streets for All $20 million federal grant with a $5 million match,” said Castor. 

The complexity of tapping infrastructure funds has spurred the National League of Cities towards developing workshops and tools to help municipalities navigate the maze. The type of progress being seen has also raised concerns regarding equity and the environmental implications. 

“We have so many transportation projects on the books that I’m seeing states across the country saying, ‘I get to finally build that bypass freeway,’ even though we all know that that kind of infrastructure is last century, not forward looking,” said Shelley Poticha, chief climate strategist, Natural Resource Defense Council. 

The dark shadow of collateral damage from the days of urban renewal is also raising concerns. 

“I think one of the things that has really been a challenge with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is that it did not have any equity and climate provisions due to the agreement that was made,” said Poticha. “The Inflation Reduction Act did, it really focuses on climate.” 

Equity has emerged as in important theme for many.

“This is our great infrastructure moment,” said Judith Dangerfield, managing director, Racial Equity Governing Agenda, Policy Link. “This is not the first, and in a great infrastructure moment with tremendous investment there is going to be benefits and there’s going to be burden.” 

“We know it’s going to lead to gentrification and displacement,” said Dangerfield. “How do we make sure that this investment is not just for economic growth, but it actually benefits all of the people who are living, working, playing, learning, worshipping in the places where we are making these investments.”  

Equity emerged as a clear theme during recent presentations by the Department of Transportation including the Justice40 initiative backed by the White House. 

Dangerfield would like to see greater use of community benefits agreements – legally binding documents that spell out terms for local support in exchange for project development impact. The U.S. Department of Energy is an early adopter.      

Politics also comes into play as the tug of war for funds can get tied up in political squabbles between progressive cities lodged in rural states. 

“The challenge is that so much of these monies are controlled by the states and governors,” said Poticha. “We did see executive orders passed by governors during the COVID stimulus and Treasury required each state that wanted to receive monies to make some commitments to or say what their commitments to environmental justice inequity would be. That has not happened with these funds.”