Joco Today

Funding made available through the bipartisan infrastructure law

On April 27, 2023, Representative Sharice Davids announced new federal grant opportunities to improve roadway safety and climate resiliency in Kansas’ Third District. This funding is provided through the bipartisan infrastructure law, which has been called the most fiscally responsible infrastructure bill in at least a decade by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Davids serves on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass the legislation and advocate for Kansas priorities.

“Whenever there is federal funding on the table, I’m going to do everything I can so Kansas gets its fair share, especially when it comes to making our communities safer and more resilient,” said Davids. “I’m proud to have voted for the bipartisan infrastructure law, which continues to make getting to school and work safer, reduce future maintenance costs of outdated infrastructure, and create good-paying jobs here at home.”

The new funding opportunities include:

Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A): helps communities both plan and carry out projects that help reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our highways, streets, and roads.

Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT): invests in projects to make the country’s surface transportation system more resilient to the impacts of climate change, while reducing long-term costs by minimizing demands for future maintenance and rebuilding.

Clean School Bus Program: Provides electric and low-emission school buses, which improves air quality, saves schools money, creates good-paying clean energy jobs.

Davids highlighted bipartisan infrastructure law investments through the SS4A program in Wyandotte County last month and continues to advocate so Kansans see the law’s impacts as soon as possible, where they’re needed most. The bipartisan infrastructure law, which is paid for through a combination of new revenues and savings, is implementing the most comprehensive and holistic approach to improving roadway safety ever.

Local stakeholders such as school districts and cities who may be interested in this infrastructure funding are welcome to contact Rep. Davids’ office for more information or to request a letter of support. To learn more, please email Patrick Hampton at patrick.hampton@mail.house.gov.

Background:

Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A): Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that include the use of demonstration activities, sometime also known as “quick build” projects, as well as undertaking more traditional action planning and implementation activities. Applications may come from individual communities or groups of communities and may include counties, cities, towns, other special districts that are subdivisions of a state/

Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT): By funding projects that improve resilience to natural hazards and climate change impacts, PROTECT aims to reduce damage and disruption to the transportation system. The program will improve equity and further environmental justice by addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities that are often the most vulnerable to hazards. Grant applicants at all levels of government are encouraged to apply for up to $848 million in discretionary grant funding, which comes on top of PROTECT formula funding that is already flowing to States.

Clean School Bus Program: The Clean School Bus Program will fund electric, propane, and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses that will produce either zero or low tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is prioritizing applications that will replace buses serving high-need local education agencies, including rural areas.

Original source can be found here.