House Democrats introduce $1.5T infrastructure bill | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC
Columbus Ohio Dump Truck Company Brief:
- House Democrats have unveiled a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that includes almost $500 billion of green measures proposed as part of the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST in America) Act earlier this month.
Dump Trucks Columbus OH Insight:
During a press conference announcing the Moving Forward Act, lawmakers took aim at President Donald Trump's administration and its moves to waiver environmental regulations in the name of speeding up the infrastructure permitting process. Democrat Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, chair of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that the USDOT has not implemented reforms that are available to it and that waiving the National Environmental Policy Act process is not necessary.
The Trump administration has regularly waived environmental regulations for the construction of barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border, but most recently directed federal agencies to waive them and to take other actions in order to move infrastructure projects forward during the post-COVID-19 recovery.
Before the Moving America Forward Act announcement, the Associated Builders and Contractors sent a letter to DeFazio and to the other members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee outlining what the organization would like to see included in the bill. The suggestions include some measures that DeFazio and other Democrats are not likely to favor, including:
- Additional streamlining of environmental and permitting reviews.
- Promoting "fair and open competition" through the exclusion of project labor agreements and prevailing wage requirements.