Concerns about the nation's infrastructure and its ability to support commerce and promote public well-being have prompted calls for greater infrastructure spending. In response to a request from the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) prepared this study, which analyzes recent developments in spending on transportation and water infrastructure, trends in spending for capital and for operations and maintenance by the various levels of government, and the rationale for public spending on infrastructure. This study updates a 2007 report, Trends in public spending on transportation and water infrastructure, 1956 to 2004--Preface.
Home to more than 50 million people and our Nation¿s ag. industry, Rural America (RA) plays a vital role in ensuring a vibrant national economy. The Obama Admin. recognizes the importance of the rural economic engine and took swift action to stabilize the rural economy and assist rural communities in the aftermath of the economic downturn. This report provides an overview of how Fed. investments under the ARRA of 2009 are helping rural communities win the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building our global competition. Contents: Building the Infrastructure of the 21st Century; Investing in Clean Energy and the Environ.; Increasing Economic Opportunity in RA; Enhancing the Quality of Life in RA. A print on demand report.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided $4 billion for the EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and $2 billion for the agency's Drinking Water SRF. The ARRA requires a review of funds made available under the act and comments on recipients' reports of jobs created and retained. This report examined the: (1) status and use of ARRA SRF program funds nationwide and in nine states; (2) EPA and state actions to monitor the act's SRF program funds; (3) EPA and selected states' approaches to ensure data quality, including for jobs reported by recipients of the act's funds; and (4) challenges, if any, that states have faced in implementing the act's requirements. Illus. This is a print on demand report.
Communities will need hundreds of billions of dollars in coming years to construct and upgrade wastewater infrastructure. Policymakers have proposed a variety of approaches to finance this infrastructure, incl. the creation of a national infrastructure bank (NIB) and the increased use of privately financed public-private partnerships (PPP). In this context, this report identified: (1) Stakeholder views on issues to be considered in the design of an NIB; and (2) the extent to which private financing has been used in wastewater PPPs and its reported advantages and challenges. In conducting this work, a questionnaire was administered to 37 stakeholders with expertise in wastewater utilities, infrastructure needs, and financing. Charts and tables.