Top 10 for Conservation in the Infrastructure Act
I've got a different list of the ten best things in the Infrastructure Bill (HR 3684) for innovation writ large. But my top ten from the bill for conservation and climate is almost totally different! There is no universe in which an ‘infrastructure bill’ from 20 or 30 years ago would have included a list like this – go planet!
(The page numbers I reference can be found in the near-final version of the bill here - 2740 pages - happy reading!)
Ecosystem restoration. Some ecosystems are just more important than others – more biodiversity, more people, more economic activity, more problems. Over 5 years, the bill gives EPA more than $1.8 billion to invest in some of the country’s most important ones! That includes $1 billion for the Great Lakes, $238 million for the Chesapeake Bay, and $106 million for Long Island Sound. Page 2575.
Wildlife migration. On an annual basis, the economic damages (+ $8 billion) caused by vehicles hitting white-tailed deer is greater than the combined budget of every state wildlife agency in the country – but that is an overabundant species. Cars and roads isolate populations of rare wildlife and prevent them from moving to habitat they need to survive. The bill creates a highway wildlife crossing program that would provide $350 million over 5 years to build and improve wildlife crossings so that animals harm fewer people on our roads – and our roads harm less wildlife. If that funding prevents 80,000 animal collisions over project lifetimes, it will have paid for itself in lower damage and insurance costs, not to mention lives saved. Page 175.
Restoring abandoned mines. In places like central Pennsylvania and Nevada, thousands of abandoned mines create extensive pollution of local rivers and streams. The bill includes about $11 billion to help fix this damage. Wow. Page 1775.
Preparing for future floods. The bill puts $4.5 billion aside for FEMA to help communities use land buy outs to avoid future flooding – this is a huge opportunity to put land back into conservation, restore wetlands, and rebuild coastal habitat as we retreat from sea level rise-vulnerable areas. But we really need communities and states to figure out how to use public-private partnerships and similar structures, for example with land trusts, so that buyouts deliver more strategic value for communities and nature. And $1 billion of that is for better flood risk planning – a major opportunity to identify and enhance ecosystem services in and around flood-prone communities. Pew Charitable Trusts is really on top of this. Page 2555.
Offsetting impacts. Building infrastructure often damages habitat, endangered species populations, or water resources. The bill ensures that funding made available for road or transit or rail projects can also be used to pay for actions that offset those impacts. This is a critical step to get net zero or similar outcomes as we modernize our infrastructure. Page 353 for one example.
Replacing and removing road culverts. One of the biggest contributors to declining fish populations are the barriers that keep them from moving up and down rivers. Salmon, for example, migrate to breeding habitat is sometimes hundreds of miles from the ocean – but not if a big concrete pipe prevents them from getting there. The bill includes a new culvert removal and replacement program to give states and tribes grants to fix these problems and $1 billion to do it – that is a big grant program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to run! Page 648.
Removal and repair of hazardous dams. America has thousands of ‘high hazard’ dams which independent experts have determined have a relatively high risk of failure and will harm lives and property if they do. Often these structures are old and abandoned. The bill provides $800 million for the removal or repair of those dams and many of those projects will end up creating enormous water and wildlife benefits. Page 2497.
Indian water rights settlements. Since the 1990s, the Department of Interior has been negotiating settlements with tribes to resolve overallocated water rights in western states and support tribal investments in water infrastructure. The bill provides $2.5 billion to pay for a number of future settlements. Page 2192.
Wildfire Commission. Many of our largest forest ecosystems are in a state of management that leaves them – and us – more at risk from catastrophic wildfire. And the country has been arguing about how to deal with this problem for a long time. The bill established a much-needed commission to make recommendations on federal policies that would contribute to the prevention, suppression and management of wildfires and repair of lands and waters damaged by them. The commission will be made of a diversity of the most senior federal agency leaders plus 18 non-federal experts and stakeholders. Surely, the members will argue about many things, however this is one of the best chances to create consensus around a handful of smarter wildfire management policies. Page 2197.
Electric cars. In just a few years, the majority of new cars sold will be electric. But getting to that point depends on better charging infrastructure. The bill provides $7.5 billion in grants to double America’s network of charging stations. I count every electric car as a conservation win because they reduce the future climate change that will otherwise drive 10 percent or more of all global species extinct. (Plus $5 billion for new school buses!) Page 2642.
