New water bill tweaks TIFIA

The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to vote this week on a sweeping water infrastructure bill that would send billions to flood-control and coastal resiliency projects and revamp a popular transportation loan program to allow untapped dollars to be sent to states.

The “Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024” would advance 21 new projects undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and greenlight 200 feasibility studies.

The House is set to fast-track the bill by considering it under a suspension of rules. The final version, announced Thursday by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., comes after months of negotiations over previous versions already passed by the House and Senate.

The biennial legislation “unlocks a significant backlog of transportation funding for state departments of transportation,” Capito said in a statement, adding that it would also “move our country forward by bolstering our infrastructure and strengthening our economy.”

The WRDA legislation for the first time attempts to cure the so-called August redistribution problem by tapping unobligated balances from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program to the Surface Transportation Block Grant program where states will be able to use them for infrastructure projects.

August redistribution occurs when non-formula highway funds authorized in the annual appropriation bill are not fully tapped, and to avoid losing the dollars, the Federal Highway Administration redistributes the money among states. In addition to forcing states to scramble to obligate the money within as tight a window as 30 days, the move can decrease the amount of formula funding at the start of the fiscal year, according to American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, which has been lobbying for years to address the problem.

The redistribution has become larger over the past few years — totaling $7.9 billion in fiscal 2023, or 15% of all state highway formula funds. The TIFIA program is one of the largest contributors to the problem as are non-formula grant programs in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The bill directs the Transportation Secretary to redistribute $1.8 billion under the TIFIA program to the states as contract authority through the existing Surface Transportation Block Grant program. It also directs the DOT to redistribute 7% of any future unused amounts out of the $250 million provided to TIFIA in each of FY 2025 and 2026.

“In addition to providing additional STBGP funding that are in high demand throughout the country, this provision will permanently reduce future August redistribution amounts by $1.8 billion — providing more upfront federal highway dollars to states and relieving pressure at the end of each fiscal year,” said AASHTO in a letter of support.

The legislation also increases the cost-share for inland waterways projects to 75% from the general revenues and 25% from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund — up from the previous 65/35 split.

Among the projects funded in the bill: a $2.7 billion storm risk reduction effort in Miami, Fla., a $26.7 million stormwater management initiative near Memphis, Tenn.; $5.9 billion for coastal storm and flood risk management in Louisiana, and $2.1 billion toward restoration of the Everglades, according to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.

Dozens of lobbying associations, including the National Association of Counties, National Conference of State Legislatures and American Society of Civil Engineers released statements in support of the legislation.