A First Look at Appropriations in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684)

Key Takeaways

• Division J of H.R. 3684 contains $67.7B in FY 2022 appropriations for federal departments and agencies.
• Much of the appropriated funding is slated for grant programs, but billions of dollars will also be available for contract support.
• Some business opportunities arising from FY 2022 appropriations will be found at agencies not explicitly connected with traditionally-defined infrastructure projects.

At the very end of July, the Senate announced that both parties had struck a deal on a final version of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also know as H.R. 3684.

The new bill contains 2,700 pages of text detailing “infrastructure” priorities and investments planned for fiscal years 2022 and beyond. The text of the bill can be divided into roughly two sections: one section listing initiatives, programs, and planned investments for which Congress has authorized appropriations (i.e., funding) and another section detailing investments and programs for which funding is appropriated in the legislation.

Programs and projects with “authorized appropriations” must be funded in the appropriations bills that are currently making their way through Congress. Think of the annual National Defense Authorization Act and you’ll get the picture. The NDAA authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense, but until Congress passes a funding bill those authorized programs remain a wish list with no money behind them.

By contrast, the programs and priorities outlined in Division J, the section of H.R. 3684 lists programs that will be funded (i.e., receive appropriations) as soon as Congress passes H.R. 3684 and the president signs it into law. Today’s post provides a first look at Division J.

Please note that the findings presented here are preliminary. H.R. 3684 is nearly 3,000 pages long and the Federal Market Analysis team began digging into it only two days ago. Additional insight will appear in other posts by FMA in the days and weeks to come.

Appropriations by Department

The chart below shows the 11 highest appropriations totals by agency.

One detail to keep in mind when looking at this data is that although these appropriations are intended for fiscal 2022, each program and/or initiative may have a different period for which the appropriation is valid. For example, although the Department of Transportation is slated to receive $34.3B in funding, the appropriated money may be available as far out as fiscal 2026 or “until expended.” This means that although funding will begin flowing from the DOT on October 1, industry should not necessarily expect a tsunami of money. It will be spread out over years. Another thing to understand is that the vast majority of the appropriations shown are for programs that award grants to researchers, research facilities, and state and local governments. The funding is not necessarily for contracts.

Funding Examples

The table below provides a few examples of funding appropriated in H.R. 3684 for program operations at a select number of departments.

Much of this funding is intended to ensure that the named agency can meet its staffing and overhead expenses related to infrastructure work, but some of the dollars appropriated will also be used for contractor support. The work outlined for the Federal Buildings Fund includes, for example, “construction and acquisition, and repairs and alterations of border stations and land ports of entry.” Some funding will therefore be available for industry partners doing the work. Similarly, contractors who support crash data collection and analysis at the NHTSA, Wildland Fire Management at Interior, and other programs, etc., will benefit.

Summing up, HR 3684 contains billions of dollars in new FY 2022 appropriations. Some of these appropriations will remain available until expended, while others will be available only for FY 2022. In either case, the new legislation promises to provide a boost in business opportunity for a contracting community still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 crisis.