Author Archive
Talk to your Members of Congress About Infrastructure this Recess
July 21st, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Members of Congress headed home (and to their respective national conventions last week) and won’t return to Washington until after Labor Day. This gives you, as an infrastructure advocate, the opportunity to talk with your federal lawmakers about our nation’s “D+” infrastructure and specific legislation that they can pass this year to help improve it. The first is the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The Senate version of this bill authorizes 25 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in 17 states. It would also authorize a much needed dam rehabilitation program. The House also has a version of this bill, which has a narrower scope. WRDA bills are most effective when they are passed every two years. Since the last was signed into law in the summer of 2014, it’s time for Congress to pass another bill. If you’re going to see one of your Senators or Representative and want to talk about WRDA, check out this more extensive backgrounder on the WRDA bills S. 2848 and H.R. 5303. With the passage of the FAST Act last December, many Members of Congress feel like they can ignore surface transportation for another 4.5 years. Help us remind them they can’t! Because the gas tax rate has not kept up with inflation, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) has been on the brink of insolvency many times in the past several years. Instead of addressing the HTF’s long-term solvency problem, Congress has relied on general funds transfers for the pas t eight years to prop up the fund, including most recently in the FAST Act. Congress needs to take action to fix the trust fund and ensure its long-term stability. Congressional leaders have been talking about doing a big push on tax reform next year. Remind your Members of Congress to include the HTF.
ASCE State Advoacy Captain Stephan Durham and Rep Jody Hice (GA-R)
- Visit your Senators’ and Representative’s websites to find out what public events they have scheduled
- Call your Members of Congress’ District Office and ask to schedule a meeting
- Use our online advocacy website to send emails to your Members of Congress on these and other infrastructure issues
- Invite your Members of Congress to come to your group’s meeting (e.g. ASCE section event, PTA, Rotary Club)
- And, if you’re lucky enough to have a more personal connection with a Member, take a few minutes to discuss infrastructure issues and why they matter at your neighborhood barbecue.
Our New Video: The high price we pay for inadequate infrastructure
July 6th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
As we shared in May, underinvesting in infrastructure comes at a high cost. It costs each family $9 a day. That adds up to $3,400 a year, according to our Failure to Act economic study. Watch the video below to find out more about how inadequate infrastructure costs you. And, more importantly, what we can do about it.Broad Coalition Asks Senate to Pass Water Resources Bill
June 23rd, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
On Wednesday an initial group of 87 organizations–now up to 93–asked in a letter that the U.S. Senate pass the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA; S.2848) before leaving for summer recess. The coalition, led by the American Society of Civil Engineers, includes a wide range of interests—demonstrating the impact that WRDA has on many industries, and the benefits of this infrastructure to Americans. Among the signers are The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Counties, the Labors International Union of North America, Water Environment Federation, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Manufacturers, and dozens more. Water resource bills were once viewed as so important that Congressional leaders tried to pass one every two years. The legislation is the main mechanism for authorizing new projects at the Army Corps of Engineers—the nation’s largest manager of flood control, navigation and ecosystem restoration projects. WRDA also authorizes funding for improvement projects for ports, inland harbors, waterways, dams, and flood control systems. The last bill was passed was passed in the 2014, by a 91-7 vote in the Senate and a 412-4 vote in the House. However, before 2014, the process had lapsed for seven years. By passing a bill this summer, WRDA can get back on track for an every two years cycle. You can share your support of WRDA by sending a letter to your Senators.New Jersey Report Card Coming Next Week
June 8th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
With only a few weeks left before New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund goes insolvent, the Report Card for New Jersey’s Infrastructure will be released on Thursday, June 16 to underscore the importance to #FixNJTrustFund with a sustainable, long-term funding solution.
The report will grade surface transportation categories of bridges, rail, roads, and transit, along with dams, drinking water, energy, hazardous waste, levees, parks & recreation, ports, solid waste, and wastewater.
The event will be released to the media via a conference call at 10 a.m. and at a rally at the state capitol hosted by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. For additional information contact reportcard@asce.org.
Stay tuned for additional details, the release of the grades, and (hopefully) the resolution to the Transportation Trust Fund crisis in the coming days and weeks.
#InfrastructureMatters Hits the Hill
May 18th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
The message that #InfrastructureMatters made its way to Capitol Hill today, as American business, labor, citizen groups, and more met with members of Congress and their staffs. Mid-day, the group took a break from Infrastructure Week Advocacy Day meetings to come together at a congressional briefing. Building America’s Future Co-Chair Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) started the day by pointing out the high percentage of state initiatives to improve infrastructure that are approved by voters. The briefing included remarks from all four of Infrastructure Week’s Congressional Co-Chairs: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Garett Graves (R-LA), and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY). Each Member of Congress took a few minutes to talk about why #InfrastructureMatters and highlighted the important work Infrastructure Week and its participants are doing. Sen. Cardin talked about the importance of the issue, and shared his personal experience of the commute from Baltimore to D.C. being far longer than it should be—typically over 2 hours, rather than 45 minutes. Sen. Capito talked about a successful grassroots campaign in her state launched by a local radio personality, known as #FTDR—fix the (censored) roads. Rep. Graves trumpeted how preventative investment is more cost effective than emergency repairs, both from a safety and economic standpoint. And Rep. Maloney shared the policy idea of increasing our investment in infrastructure to align with 5% of our nation’s GDP. After Rep. Maloney set the stage well, ASCE’s Casey Dinges presented the new Failure to Act study, highlighting that poor infrastructure is costing every American household for $9 a day, and posing the question (and solution) “Would you be willing to pay $3 a day per family for better infrastructure?,” as we could close the investment gap in 10 years if we invested $3 more a day per family. Members from the business and labor communities, including Liuna, Case, and AECOM, also shared perspectives on the importance on infrastructure investment. A wide variety of interests were represented in the room, but as Infrastructure Week more broadly showcases, all these voices strongly agree on the need to rebuild and renew our infrastructure because it matters to our economy and quality of life.The High Cost of Underinvesting in Infrastructure: $9 a day
May 10th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Today’s release of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Failure to Act: Closing the Investment Gap for America’s Economic Future reveals that inadequate infrastructure is costing every American family $3,400 a year in disposable income.
The economic study, an update to the initial series ASCE released prior to the 2013 Report Card, identifies the 10-year needs across 10 categories of infrastructure is $3.3 trillion, including a $1.4 trillion investment gap.
The $1.4 trillion investment gap comprises:
- $1.1 trillion throughout the surface transportation network including roads, bridges, transit, and commuter rail.
- Electricity infrastructure requires an additional $177 billion.
- The third highest investment gap is $105 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure.
- Airports, including the highly anticipated NextGen technology upgrade, require an added $42 billion.
- America’s inland waterways and ports need an additional $15 billion to close their funding gap.
- $3.9 trillion in GDP, more than the 2013 GDP of Germany
- $7 trillion of business sales
- 2.5 million job losses in the year 2025
- $3,400 in a family’s annual disposable income each year from 2016 to 2025, equal to $9.33 a day.
Dam Rehab Bill Introduced in Senate
April 26th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Late last week, Senators Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) and Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced S. 2835, a bill that, if enacted, would provide funding assistance to rehabilitate, repair, or remove nonfederal high hazard deficient dams. This is a promising step in the effort to improve the nation’s aging dams, which received a “D” grade in the 2013 Report Card. Dams are a vital part of the nation’s aging infrastructure, providing enormous benefits to the majority of Americans including drinking water, flood protection, renewable hydroelectric power, navigation, irrigation and recreation. Yet there are more than 4,000 dams that are determined to be unsafe or deficient. Through a grant program, the bipartisan bill proposes $600 million over 10 years to go toward dam rehab. It will help local communities that lack funding to rehabilitate, repair, or remove a high hazard dam before it breaches. As Sen. Reed said in a press release issued by ASCE “By assisting in the repair or removal of high hazard dams before they fail, the bill makes an investment in future cost savings, not to mention lives and property saved.” This bill would allow communities to make the preemptive investment into aging infrastructure, and in the process make the communities below a dam safer. The legislation was referred to the Senate’s Environment & Public Works Committee. Since the bill’s introduction, the Senate’s Water Resources Development Act 0f 2016 section by section summary was released. The bill includes a very similar program, named in Section 3004 as the Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dams. Send a letter to your Senators asking them to support S. 2835, which will address aging dams that protect our communities and provide benefits to our economy.Underinvestment Led to Transit Woes
April 7th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Washington D.C.’s Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)—initially opened around the same time in the 1970s—are facing challenges of being underfunded and ill-equipped to handle the needs of the populations they serve today. In their own ways, each is drawing attention to the negative effects of deferred maintenance. In mid-March, WMATA’s new General Manager Paul Wiedefeld closed the system on a weekday to make emergency inspections and repairs. This unprecedented move exhibited a dedication to and focus on safety. As it should be. Civil engineers, as stewards of the nation’s infrastructure, take an oath to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. And one of the Report Card’s key grading criteria is safety. Wiedefeld announced he is now working to evaluate the system and identify the most pressing maintenance needs and devising a plan to address them. The equation to how we got to this place (and to a “D+” GPA for infrastructure more broadly) is simple. Underinvestment + lack of maintenance = deficient infrastructure. BART’s twitter earned attention when it made these points in response to frustrated travelers. One tweet read “This is our reality” because the system was designed to move far fewer people and many components of the system have reached the end of their useful design life. When a system is frequently delayed, or has to close for emergency repairs the cost to the economy becomes very real. We often talk about how we only notice infrastructure when it’s not working. Well, for riders of BART and D.C. Metro that’s far too often. In some ways, the users in those cities are the “lucky” ones however, compared to the 45% of the U.S. population who don’t have reliable access to transit at all. Between these two truths, the needs are blatant. Large systems in major metropolitan areas, such as BART and WMATA, need funding from the local, state, and federal levels to address the backlog of needs. As more people choose to live in urban areas, the ability to have transportation choices and move efficiently on public transit becomes all the more important. The time to start thinking about how these systems work for the next 40 years is today. And the time to start investing in those systems was yesterday.A Day to Support Our Ports: United for the Future
April 5th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
Outside of boarding a cruise ship, you likely don’t give much thought to ports. But this is an area of infrastructure that delivers so much to your daily life. In 2014 (the last year with data available), U.S. ports hosted $4.6 trillion in economic value worth of activity. Ports are the gateway to global trade, and in the process create jobs and support communities. Today is the Western Hemisphere’s Ports Day, created to spread the message of the value ports deliver.
Millions of tons of food, clothing, medicine, fuel and building materials, as well as consumer electronics and toys, move through Western Hemisphere seaports every day. As an integral link in the freight network, port infrastructure needs the other parts of the system to be functioning well. The first and last mile leading to and from a port are crucial to the ability for a port to move goods. In the 2013 Report Card, ports received a “C” grade. Since then, the FAST Act created a national freight program, which will help prioritize road and rail projects that improve the movement of goods around the country. In addition to the success of FAST Act, Congress is currently considering a water resources bill which could provide policy changes to help the way ports receive federal funding. The Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) can help maintain and build new ports projects that facilitate important commerce activities.
Many ports are making investments to upgrade their offerings and be able to welcome larger ships, which are all #GameChangers for the industry. Another key part to increasing funding for modernization is the next Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). Congress is making progress toward a bill. If passed this year, it would be back on track for a two-year cycle, which helps provide project certainty and makes the costs of projects manageable. In addition to passing a new WRDA, Congress also has the opportunity to fully appropriate the funds of Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, and put that money toward its intended purpose of dredging.
On Ports Day, port leaders from across the hemisphere are gathering in Washington, D.C. for their Annual Spring Conference to discuss how to can best manage increasing freight volumes and remain successful in a dynamic global economy, among other challenges. Most importantly, the group will also continue collaboration on ways the industry can lead the way in terms of job creation and economic growth.
We’re proud to join hundreds of Western Hemisphere seaports in celebration of Ports Day. On behalf of workers, farmers, employers, manufacturers and consumers everywhere, ports are truly united for the future. For further discussion on the role of Ports in our economy, consider attending the Ports Conference in June in New Orleans.
Presidential Candidates Get Infrastructure Questions
March 9th, 2016 | By: Becky Moylan
One of the goals of the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure is to educate policy makers and elected officials on the need to invest in our infrastructure and inspire them to take action. During this presidential election season, many of the candidates have talked about infrastructure. Those conversations are a great sign that Americans are thinking about the importance of infrastructure and the need to improve it and candidates are being asked to share their ideas. In the past week, both the Republicans and Democrats have held debates in Michigan, a state which has been at the forefront of national news regarding water infrastructure over the past several months. In addition to the water infrastructure issues Flint is facing, last year the state legislature finally passed a surface transportation package after many years of inaction and decades of underinvestment. During the Republican Debate, held at the Fox Theater in Detroit—along the route of the streetcar that’s scheduled to open later this year—Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was asked “Where are the national Republicans’ plans on infrastructure and solving problems like [Flint]?” The Senator answered by discussing the importance of accountability at all levels of government. A few days earlier, Donald Trump talked about infrastructure while answering questions during his Super Tuesday victory speech. During his remarks he commented “You look at the transportation systems they have [around the world] and the trains they have. We’re like a third world country.” The Democratic Debate took place in Flint, the city that has sparked national attention regarding lead in drinking water. Both democratic candidates have put forth infrastructure plans of their own. Several minutes of the debate were dedicated to the state of our nation’s infrastructure. First, Secretary Hillary Clinton was asked if her plan was big enough to tackle the needs. Clinton mentioned that the surface transportation bill finally passed after becoming a far more partisan issue than it should have been. She continued, that she would like to go further by adding an additional $250 billion on top of the FAST Act and creating a National Infrastructure Bank, which she foresees leveraging $25 billion of federal investments into $250 billion for infrastructure projects. Clinton concluded that there’s “no doubt” more needs to be done on our infrastructure from roads to airports to tunnels to water systems. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was then asked about his $1 trillion proposal. He answered by highlighting the American Society of Civil Engineers’ estimate that $3.6 trillion of investment is needed to improve our infrastructure to a grade of B and pointed out that such investment would put Americans to work in good-paying jobs. Debate questions focusing on infrastructure are a positive indicator that the conversation of infrastructure investment is getting serious attention. It’s also a good reminder that while the FAST Act and state infrastructure legislation are to be applauded, there is still much more that needs to be done to modernize our nation’s infrastructure. You can do something about it right now by educating yourself on presidential candidates’ infrastructure plans and writing your elected leaders about the need to improve infrastructure.
