Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Projects Stewarded by Interior Department Support Nearly 18,000 Jobs, $2 Billion to the Economy Annually

Date: Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

WASHINGTON — As the Biden-Harris administration marks the two-year anniversary of President Biden signing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law today, the Department of the Interior released  a new analysis that estimates that investments from the historic law supported on average 17,669 jobs and contributed an average of $2 billion to the economy each year.

The Department also released  a two-year anniversary report, which highlights overall key successes, accomplishments and stories of personal impact as a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. To commemorate the President’s Investing in America agenda and highlight these economic contributions, Secretary Haaland this week is traveling to South Carolina and Iowa to highlight new investments to restore and conserve our nation’s lands and waters.  

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a historic down payment on ensuring that future generations have clean air, drinkable water, fertile soil, and an overall quality of life that is currently threatened by the worsening climate crisis,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Since President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law two years ago, we’ve been hard at work at the Interior Department to deliver these critical investments into the hands of American communities as quickly as we can, and we’re making tremendous progress in creating jobs, revitalizing economies, and bolstering climate resiliency.”

“At the Interior Department, we know that success in implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is through frequent collaboration with federal, state, Tribal, local and labor leaders and their communities,” said Infrastructure Coordinator Winnie Stachelberg. “Over the last two years, we’ve worked to convene as many voices as we could to ensure these programs deliver for the American people. Today’s reports show that we are delivering real results as President Biden envisioned, creating good-paying jobs and growing the economy from the bottom up and middle out.”

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $600 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating good paying jobs and building a clean energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law contains an overall $28.1 billion over 15 years for the Department’s initiatives, including for combatting legacy pollution, restoring critical habitats, addressing the drought crisis, assisting with wildland fire management, and helping communities prepare for extreme weather events.

Since President Biden signed the law in November 2021, the Department has, among other milestones:

• Allocated over $8 billion for nearly 1,500 projects across the country and launched an interactive map to track these investments,
• Established a new Orphaned Well Program Office to ensure effective, accountable and efficient implementation of the new program to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells on federal, state and Tribal lands,
• Unveiled a  Restoration and Resilience Framework to guide the over $2 billion in investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to restore our nation’s lands and waters,
• Launched a Voluntary Community Driven Relocation initiative, with over $135 million in federal commitments to assist Tribal communities severely impacted by climate-related environmental threats,
• In conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, established a joint firefighter behavioral health program to support firefighter health and wellbeing, and
• Waived grant matching requirements for American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands to reduce financial burden for U.S. territories accessing this funding.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 Estimated Economic Contributions, by Activity:

The economic report released today examines the direct, indirect and induced impact from the Department’s orphaned well program, abandoned mine land remediation program and water infrastructure program. These three Bipartisan Infrastructure programs were selected for initial research given the economic intent within the Law.

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