Budget Appropriations for the Department of Transportation in the Infrastructure Bill

Key Takeaways

• The USDOT will receive at least $1.65B in budget appropriations once the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is signed into law.
• A portion of the approved appropriations funding will be contractor-addressable (i.e., spent by DOT components on contracts, not grants), but it is impossible to say how much given the available information. 
• Appropriated funds will be used for program oversight, administration, and R&D. The FAA’s appropriation also funds capital investments for airport infrastructure.

Despite some political complications in Congress, it seems at this point that the full passage and signing into law of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (H.R. 3684) is just a matter of time. Having had some time to go through the more than 2,700 pages of the bill, the Federal Market Analysis team here at GovWin has identified a number of appropriations (i.e., budgetary resources, not grant money) for programs at some federal agencies.

One of the agencies receiving significant program-related funding is the U.S. Department of Transportation. The appropriations going to the DOT will be of interest to industry because they represent funding that the department’s components will spend on in-house needs, including contracted support services.

The table below shows appropriated funding for several of the components at the
DOT totaling $1.65B in fiscal 2022 and $1.63B for every fiscal year afterward through fiscal 2026.

Readers, please note that these are the program-related appropriations for DOT I’ve been able to identify. There may be other funding lurking in the text related to grants programs, but which are difficult to identify because of the language used in the legislation.

This funding will be appropriated for the DOT upon the passage of H.R. 3684 independent of whatever budget is passed by the Congress for fiscal year 2022. Basically, it amounts to a second budget appropriation for these programs in anticipation of administrative needs that will arise in connection with transportation infrastructure programs. Here are a few details from the legislation concerning what the DOT’s components can spend this funding on.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

• Facilities and Equipment: Funds shall be for (1) replacing terminal and en route air traffic control facilities; (2) improving air route traffic control center and combined control facility buildings; (3) improving air traffic control en route radar facilities; (4) improving air traffic control tower and terminal radar approach control facilities; (5) national airspace system facilities OSHA and environmental standards compliance; (6) landing and navigational aids; (7) fuel storage tank replacement and  management; (8) unstaffed infrastructure sustainment; (9) real property disposition; (10) electrical power system sustain and support; (11) energy maintenance and compliance; (12) hazardous materials management and environmental cleanup; (13) facility security risk management;  (14) mobile asset management program; and (15) administrative expenses.

Maritime Administration (MARAD)

• America’s Marine Highway Program: Funding provided is for FY 2022 operations and training expenses related to the administration of the Marine Highway Grants Program.
• Port Infrastructure Development Program: Include  projects that improve the resiliency of ports to address sea-level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, earthquakes, and tsunami inundation, as well as projects that reduce or eliminate port-related criteria pollutant or  greenhouse gas emissions.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

• Vehicle Safety and Behavioral Research Programs: Funding for behavioral research on Automated Systems, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, and improving consumer responses to safety recalls.
• Supplemental Highway Traffic Safety Programs: Highway safety programs, national priority safety programs, and operational expenses.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

• Motor Carrier Safety Operations and Program: Funding for the Motor Carrier Safety Program, including administration and oversight of grants.