The U.S. House of Representatives today passed several bills that invest in our transportation and water infrastructure. The INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684) commits $715 billion towards upgrading our transportation infrastructure, while reauthorizing underlying federal programs and shaping them to serve the needs of all Americans. Helping ensure that public investment supports jobs in America, it also includes updated Buy America provisions to make domestic content and waiver approval requirements clearer—including for clean technology vehicles—and expands Buy America to include construction materials on projects that receive funding from the Federal Highway Administration.

Included in separate bills were important water infrastructure investments. Both H.R. 1915, The Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act and H.R. 3293, the Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Programs Act were also passed.

In response, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from BlueGreen Alliance Deputy Legislative Director Katie Harris and Director of Manufacturing and Advanced Transportation Zoe Lipman:

“This was a needed—and appreciated—first step. INVEST in America makes strong investments in transit, rail, and forward-thinking projects in natural infrastructure, corrosion prevention, and electrification. The bill also makes important changes to Buy America to ensure that public investments support jobs in America. It also includes key worker protections and supports domestic manufacturing conversion grants, which are an essential piece of the puzzle to ensure the clean transportation technology of the future is built here in the United States.

“In addition, the water infrastructure investments passed will create and sustain thousands of good jobs while ensuring communities have safe, affordable water, and water systems resilient to climate change.

“This is one step toward seizing the massive opportunity to create good-paying jobs across the country modernizing our transportation systems and ensuring that everyone has access to clean, safe drinking water. However, more is needed to meet the scale of our jobs and climate needs as a country.”