Transportation Secretary points to grants for modernizing infrastructure

Buttigieg said the $1.5 billion requested for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program would assist state agencies with improving existing infrastructure. Such improvements could work to facilitate the movement of freight along supply chains.

“We understand that the tremendous opportunity we’ve been given to help modernize our country’s infrastructure comes with a profound responsibility to use taxpayer dollars efficiently and wisely; and to make resources more accessible to state and local governments so they can build good projects,” Buttigieg told the House Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee. Overall, President Joe Biden is requesting $142 billion in fiscal 2023 for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“This type of infrastructure transformation only happens at most once every generation, and it only happens if we work together,” Buttigieg added.

The Biden administration is requesting $367.5 million for safety operations and programs for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which regulates the trucking industry. For FMCSA’s safety grants division, the budget proposes $506.1 million.

Additionally, Buttigieg expressed confidence that the recently enacted $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could also assist state agencies with modernization efforts. More than $500 billion for highway-centric projects, with a focus on climate change, gained approval under the law.

Congressional appropriators have yet to schedule consideration of the fiscal 2023 transportation funding legislation. Federal funding authorization expires at the end of September.