The Senate has voted, 67-32, to take up a nearly $US1 trillion ($A1.36 trillion) national infrastructure plan after President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators reached agreement on major provisions of the package.
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Here's a breakdown of where the dollars would go, according to a summary released by the White House on Wednesday.
- $US110 billion for roads and bridges. The $US40 billion for bridges is the single largest dedicated bridge investment since the construction of the Interstate highway system
- $US39 billion for public transit. The money would be used to modernise bus and subway fleets and bring new service to communities. That's about $US10 billion less than senators negotiating the agreement had originally designated.
- $US66 billion for passenger and freight rail. The money would be used to reduce Amtrak's maintenance backlog, improve Amtrak's Northeast Corridor as well as other routes and make safety improvements to rail grade crossings.
- $US7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations, which the administration says is critical to accelerating the use of electric vehicles to curb climate change.
- $US5 billion for the purchase of electric school buses and hybrids, reducing reliance on school buses that run on diesel fuel.
- $US17 billion for ports and $US25 billion for airports to reduce congestion and address maintenance backlogs.
- $US55 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure, including funding to replace all of the nation's service lines using lead pipe.
- $US65 billion to expand broadband access, a particular problem for rural areas and tribal communities. Most of the money would be made available through grants to states.
- $US21 billion to clean up superfund and brownfield sites, reclaim abandoned mine land and cap obsolete gas wells.
- $US73 billion for modernising the nation's electric grid and expanding the use of renewable energy.
Australian Associated Press
