Many communities in the South stand to benefit greatly from the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which could have a tremendous impact on clean water, broadband, transportation, and more.
From FY 2022 to FY 2026, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment (BIL) will allocate $973 billion, including $550 billion in new investments across transportation modes, water, power and energy, environmental remediation, public lands, broadband and resilience. The BIL not only authorizes numerous programs but also provides multi-year funding in advance to a number of federal departments and agencies.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) fund numerous programs specifically for communities facing disproportionate health, environmental, and economic burden. These programs for disadvantaged communities are available across sectors, including clean energy and transit, climate change, affordable housing, environmental remediation, clean water, and workforce development.
BIL made historic funding available for investments in transportation, climate mitigation and resilience, environmental protection, and broadband access. To accompany the comprehensive guidebook and data released by the White House, this guide offers a step-by-step approach to identifying funding for initiatives that work synergistically to lower carbon emissions, build resiliency, and prioritize equity.
Communities hold immense knowledge of chronic challenges, unmet needs, and emerging issues in their neighborhoods. SEAP’s report, Investing in an Equitable, Low-Carbon, Resilient Future: A Guide to Using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding for Climate Co-benefits, provides good examples of community engagement.
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Beginning in October 2023, any new programs included in the Justice40 Initiative are expected to use the Climate and Economic Justice Screening (CEJST) Tool per the White House guidance.
This CEJST Tool identifies distressed communities (disadvantaged communities that are overburdened and underserved) using indicators of burdens in eight categories – climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution, transportation, water and wastewater, and workforce development.
Federal agencies will use the tool to help identify disadvantaged communities that will benefit from programs included in the Justice40 Initiative. The Justice40 Initiative seeks to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of investments in climate, clean energy, and related areas to disadvantaged communities.
This document highlights funding opportunities that communities can apply for today as well as a calendar of key upcoming funding opportunities for 2023.
These maps are intended to be illustrative of the scope of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the impact it has in all American communities. All announcement data represented on these maps, including award and project locations and funding amounts, is preliminary and non-binding. Awards may be contingent on meeting certain requirements.
This playbook is intended to help rural communities understand the available funding for infrastructure provided by the BIL and other sources – offering information on the “what, where, and how” to apply for federal infrastructure dollars.
These state-by-state fact sheets provide more detailed information about announced funding and projects in each state, along with anticipated funding by category over the next 5 years.
The Local Infrastructure Hub is a national program designed to connect cities and towns with the resources and expert advice they need to access federal infrastructure funding in order to drive local progress, improve communities, and deliver results for residents. The hub includes opportunities for small and mid-size cities to receive technical assistance on grant applications.
The passage of BIL provided some investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to climate impacts. Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) has created this faith community resource spreadsheet to help houses of worship identify federal grant and tax credit opportunities that are available.
Local Progress Impact Lab shares the following summary: The purpose of this memo is to equip local government leaders with policy and oversight tools to maximize the potential of these federal funds. Through local action, these federal funds can be a powerful force for advancing equity in our communities; this memo will focus in particular on environmental justice, job quality and worker protections, community engagement, and public capacity building.