2021-03-08-minutes-public-works-study-session

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of ReLuilding Anlellcn (INFRA) 6rantz ® 2 Department: U.S. Department of Transportation Agency: Office of the Secretary of Transportation FY 2021 Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects: Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grants Detailed Summary The INFRA program provides federal financial assistance to highway and freight projects of national or regional significance. Transportation infrastructure projects should support six key objectives: • Supporting Economic Vitality: projects that move goods the American economy produces and facilitate the movement of the workers who are responsible for that production. Projects that use project labor agreements and deploy local hiring provisions also contribute to economic vitality. • Climate Change and Environmental Justice Impacts (newt: projects that have considered climate change and environmental justice in the planning stage and were designed with specific elements to address climate change impacts. Projects should directly support Climate Action Plans or apply environmental justice screening tools in the planning stage. Projects should include components that reduce emissions, promote energy efficiency, incorporate electrification or zero emission vehicle infrastructure, increase resiliency, and recycle or redevelop existing infrastructure. • Racial Equality and Barriers to opportunity (new): projects that encourage racial equity in two areas: (1) planning and policies related to racial equity and barriers to opportunity; and (2) project investments that either proactively address racial equity and barriers to opportunity, including automobile dependence as a form of barrier, or redress prior inequities and barriers to opportunity. • Leveraging of Federal Funding: projects that seek to maximize all available federal and non-federal funding for investment in infrastructure. • Innovation: transformative projects that encourage innovation in three areas: (1) the deployment of innovative technology and expanded access to broadband; (2) use of innovative permitting, contracting, and other project delivery practices; and (3) innovative financing. Projects should support the integration of new technology and practices and demonstrate how those technologies and practices will contribute to the goals of the program. • Performance and Accountability: projects that increase project sponsor accountability and performance and provide plans to address the full lifecycle costs of their project. Eligible projects include: • Highway freight projects carried out on the National Highway Freight Network • Highway or bridge projects carried out on the National Highway System (NHS), including projects that add capacity on the Interstate System to improve mobility or projects in a national scenic area • Railway -highway grade crossing or grade separation projects • Freight projects that are 1) an intermodal or rail project, or 2) within the boundaries of a public or private freight rail, water (including ports), or intermodal facility.