Infrastructure Bill’s Emission Reductions Allotments Fund Highway Projects Instead

A total of $755 million in funding intended for climate resilience and emissions reductions from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has instead been repurposed for highway construction projects, according to a recent article by Ian Duncan in the Washington Post.

Last year, 38 states “made use of a provision in the law” to shift the funding to general-purpose highway construction accounts, reports Duncan, citing records from the Federal Highway Administration acquired through the Freedom of Information Act as proof. 

“California shifted $97 million to pay for safety projects. New York moved $36 million to fund what officials called the state’s ‘core capital program,’” writes Duncan “Arizona said it used $20 million for its five-year highway construction program, largely for “pavement preservation,” and Louisiana used $8.2 million to fund roundabouts near an outlet mall.”

“Five states couldn’t account for how the money was used after it was transferred,” adds Duncan.

The Article echoes the news since the IIJA’s adoption—states have complained about slow funding programs while others, such as Nebraska, immediately got to work funding projects that will immediately increase pollution and emissions. To be fair, we were warned this could happen.

As for how states were able to pervert the intentions of these taxpayer-funded funding programs, Duncan blames the bipartisan compromises that produced the IIJA, along with a legal provision predating the law’s approval. “A legal provision predating the infrastructure law allows states to shift up to half of their federal transportation funds among several programs — a provision that also applies to transportation money from the new law,” writes Duncan.

Kevin DeGood, director of the infrastructure program at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, is quoted in the article describing the news about the shifted funding as an “absolute failure.”