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FEDERAL STIMULUS DETAILS–INFRASTRUCTURE RELATED
PPP loan deductibility included but not FAR credits

Some of the key transportation components:

COVID Relief and Economic Stimulus

The bill includes $14 billion in supplemental funding for transit agencies, $10 billion in highway funding for State DOTs, $2 billion for airports, and $1 billion for Amtrak.

This supplemental funding is all available at 100% federal cost share and should help alleviate some of the immediate budget pressures they are facing.

The transit funding has broad eligibility but is largely directed to cover operating expenses. Funds are distributed according to current program formulas, but when combined with CARES Act funding is capped at 75% of an agency’s operating costs.

The $10 billion in highway funding will be distributed to states according to the existing apportionment formula. DOTs can use the funds for costs related to preventive maintenance, routine maintenance, operations, personnel, including salaries of employees or contractors, debt service payments, availability payments, and coverage for other revenue losses.

Of the emergency funding for airports, $1.75 billion is designated for costs related to operations, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services, combating the spread of pathogens at the airport, and debt service payments.

In addition to emergency funding relief, the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) was also rolled into the bill, another victory for ACEC. WRDA authorizes $9.9 billion in federal funds for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental restoration, coastal protection, and other projects. A last-minute deal modified the spending levels from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for dredging projects, starting at $500 million and ramping up in future years.

On PPP loans, the bill provides for the deductibility of expenses covered by forgiven loans, reversing an earlier IRS ruling. ACEC has been strongly advocating for this change through grassroots alerts and business coalition actions.

The bill does not include provisions to address FAR credits from government contractors for forgiven PPP loans.

Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations

Congress continued the recent trend of supplementing authorized Trust Fund programs with supplements from the General Fund. Most transportation accounts held steady or grew from current levels.

Here are a few highlights of the final transportation appropriations bill for FY 2021:

Highways – $46.4 billion for core highway programs, which is the same as FY 2020 and consistent with the one-year extension of the FAST Act; supplemented by $2 billion from the General Fund for highway infrastructure, including $1 billion specifically for bridge rehabilitation and replacement.

Transit – $10.15 billion for transit formula grants, consistent with the FAST Act extension of 2020 funding levels, supplemented by $516 million for additional transit infrastructure grants from the General Fund; $2.014 billion for Capital Investment Grants.

Aviation – $3.35 billion for the Airport Improvement Program, supplemented by $400 million in additional General Fund airport infrastructure discretionary grants; $3 billion for FAA Facilities & Equipment.

Rail – $2 billion for Amtrak, $200 million for the Federal-State Partnership State of Good Repair program, and $375 million for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grants.
Multimodal – $1 billion for competitive infrastructure grants (TIGER/BUILD) for highway, bridge, transit, passenger and freight rail, ports, and intermodal facilities projects.

Ports – $230 million for port infrastructure grants.