New Bill Could Repair Damage, Prepare Bucks County For Changing Climate

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A new national infrastructure bill could be a game changer for Bucks County’s resilience in the face of extreme weather.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 passed in the U.S. Senate in a 69-30 vote in August. Now, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan package as early as Monday.

The bill, crafted by five Democrats and five Republicans, focuses primarily on repairing, and increasing the resilience of, transportation infrastructure in the face of climate change.

Storm damage to roads, bridges, and other public property had a price tag in the millions in Bucks County alone this past month — and projections for a warmer, wetter Pennsylvania in years to come means catastrophic storms will only become more commonplace. The bill seeks to minimize the damage of these weather events.

“Let’s think about … being able to build back in a way that, the next time we do have a 500-year or 100-year flood event, that infrastructure is not damaged again,” Sarah Murdock, director of U.S. Climate Resilience and Water Policy with the Nature Conservancy, said.

She told Patch that the bill offers an opportunity to “build back better.” She, and other Nature Conservancy officials, have been advising legislators and advocating for the country’s infrastructure needs for the past year to produce this bill.

The bill’s five-year, $550 billion spending plan includes $110 billion for roads, bridges, and major projects; $66 billion for passenger and freight rail; $39.2 billion for public transit; and $55 billion for water infrastructure — among many other provisions.

According to Director of Pennsylvania Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of State Parks John Hallas, the Delaware Canal State Park alone has infrastructure needs in excess of $100 million. A designated national historic landmark, the state park stretches for 60 miles through Bucks and Northampton counties.

Hallas said $15 million of that damage was sustained in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Canal overflow also led to intense flooding in the region — officials believe that the infrastructure bill would free up funds to preserve and restore state parks, while also bolstering citizens’ safety.

“These projects need to be designed and constructed with a focus through the lens of climate change,” Hallas said. “Mitigation and adaptation measures need to be built into the mix for every one of our projects.”

Of course, this is made more difficult by the historic nature of the Delaware Canal site. Hallas hopes to preserve that integrity, building in new measures for safety and resilience rather than altering existing ones.

“We also have to take into account how it’s moving water and dealing with water as it passes through all those municipalities,” he explained.

Possible solutions to flooding damage include new box culverts built in nearby the historic culverts and aqueducts along the canal.

Bucks County has had “a whole summer of examples of how the current infrastructure is not adequate for the frequency of these events,” said Evan Endres, Pennsylvania climate and energy manager with the Nature Conservancy.

Endres explained that the infrastructure bill also includes provisions that would address other commonwealth issues. These include landslides due to extreme weather in western Pennsylvania, orphaned and abandoned wells throughout the state, and the need for more comprehensive broadband (budgeted at $65 billion in the package).

According to CNN, some progressive Democrats in the House have said they will vote down the infrastructure bill if a $3.5 trillion spending package — including a 10-year budget plan broadening the nation’s social safety net on issues of education, healthcare, climate, and infrastructure — doesn’t also pass.

That package will not be ready for a vote by Monday, leading to questions on whether the infrastructure bill vote will take place. Both bills evolved from one spending plan released in March, which Biden opted to split in two after Republicans said some provisions could not be called infrastructure. (This led healthcare, elder care, and other provisions to end up in the $3.5 trillion spending package).

House GOP leaders say linking the two plans throws into question the bipartisan nature of the infrastructure bill and have now encouraged opposition, CNN reported Thursday.

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican who represents the 1st district, voiced support for the bill in a written statement to Patch on Friday.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure bill is a historic package that invests in our nation's physical infrastructure needs,” he said. “This legislation will create jobs, enhance economic growth and competitiveness, improve the health and safety of the American people, and modernize our infrastructure for the 21st century, without raising taxes.”

President Biden’s vocal support for the bill suggests that, with House approval, it will become law.

“The Senate did its job,” Fitzpatrick said. “Now it's time for the House to finally take up the infrastructure bill with a stand-alone bipartisan vote. This will deliver a win for every American and show the nation, and world, that we have members in both parties who are united in working together to solve problems in Washington."

While the bill could add to national debt, built-in revenue raisers are designed to eliminate any tax-payer burden. Murdock also hopes that the plan would be economically beneficial beyond the need for long-term investment in climate readiness.

“Generally, when we make these investments they generate jobs and revenue,” she said.

Government funding expires on Thursday — which could trigger a potential government shutdown, according to reports. The vote on the infrastructure bill is currently scheduled for Monday.

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Got tips, story ideas, or questions in Lower Bucks County? Email kate.fishman@patch.com.