Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

GreenPower South Charleston Bus Factory Funds Stuck In Freeze

GreenPower Motor has received millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to build electric buses for school districts nationwide, including some in West Virginia.

A South Charleston electric school bus manufacturer is in limbo with a freeze on federal grants.

GreenPower Motor has received millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to build electric buses for school districts nationwide, including some in West Virginia.

Some of those funds are on hold, though, due to a freeze on federal grants and loans implemented by President Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito says she supports the grants and wants to see them resume.

“I believe in the product. I believe in the jobs being created in West Virginia,” she said. “And I believe we should be looking at this as a technology that will help our school systems save money but also keep our students safe as they go to and from school.”

Most of the grants were made available through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Capito supported and former President Joe Biden signed.

AML Projects Also On Hold

Funding for some Abandoned Mine Land projects is also on hold due to the Trump administration’s freeze.

Capito said the actions have affected several projects in the Charleston area, but she expects funding to continue soon.

West Virginia is in line to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years to clean up mine sites for recreational use or economic development.

Such grants, from the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, help put displaced coal mine workers back on the job and remove safety risks and environmental hazards from former mine lands.

Multiple federal judges have blocked the administration’s freeze on federal grants and loans.

Trump Order Throws Infrastructure Law Funding Into Uncertainty

Earlier this week, Trump paused funding on two of his predecessor’s signature legislative achievements: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito was involved in negotiating the infrastructure law. She said there is some concern about how the order might affect projects in West Virginia.

“We are definitely monitoring this on a day-by-day basis, because some of the language is a little vague and so we’re making sure that we’re getting the details down, because we are concerned about whether our highway projects could keep moving forward, Corridor H and others,” she said on Thursday.

Capito said the pause will last for 90 days. Any funding that’s already obligated to states won’t be in jeopardy, but she added that other funding could be clawed back.

Corridor H especially is a high priority for Capito, former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and his successor, U.S. Sen. Jim Justice.

Infrastructure Law’s Mine Reclamation Funds To Continue

Under the infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden, West Virginia will receive an extra $140 million a year over 15 years for mine reclamation projects.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act became law three years ago this month. It includes extra help for states to clean up abandoned mine lands.

Sharon Buccino is the principal deputy director of the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, or OSMRE.

Under the infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden, West Virginia will receive an extra $140 million a year over 15 years for mine reclamation projects.

A new administration will take office in January. Buccino says the funding will continue to come to West Virginia and other states, unless Congress decides to change that.

“Congress could subsequently act to undo or change what they did previously,” she said, “but until they do that, the direction and the money has already been provided to OSMRE to implement the laws that exist now.”

West Virginia alone has 173,000 acres of mine land that was abandoned before 1977. Only one state, Pennsylvania has more. The Abandoned Mine Land program, or AML, helps clean up the pollution from those sites, eliminates threats to public safety and restores the land for productive use, often recreation.

It also helps create jobs for workers displaced from coal mining.

Buccino cites another purpose for AML projects: Finding the raw materials needed to build batteries.

“It’s acid mine drainage treatment, where actually the acid mine drainage is being mined for potential critical mineral recovery,” she said. “So that’s Deckers Creek near Morgantown, West Virginia, the Richard Mine acid mine drainage.”

Buccino says the AML program helps communities diversify their economies in a way that makes most sense for them.

“The beauty of the program is that it doesn’t force a certain transition,” she said, “but it gives the resources and support to communities to define that transition and to define that future for themselves, and then actually there’s money available to deliver on that vision.

If nothing changes, West Virginia and other states will continue to receive the infrastructure law’s supplemental AML funding for another 12 years.

Capito’s Elevation Boosts State’s Influence On Infrastructure

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito will become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee in January.

West Virginia will have a more powerful voice on infrastructure policy on Capitol Hill starting next year.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito will become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee in January.

She’ll set the agenda on a number of issues, including a highway reauthorization that Congress must enact next year.

Capito says her priorities include rural roads, deficient bridges and safety.

She also wants to take unspent funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which she helped negotiate, and send them to states.

“Some of these discretionary funds, in other words, things that you have to ask for and apply for, haven’t even gone out the door yet and it’s been three years,” she said. “You know what that tells me? That’s an unworkable system.”

Infrastructure is still one of the most bipartisan issues in a Congress closely divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Capito was also elected by her Republican colleagues to serve in the No. 4 Senate leadership position, policy committee chair.

When U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin leaves the Capitol in January, Capito will become West Virginia’s senior senator as well.

Federal Funds Help Support Safer Streets

Three communities in the northern part of the state are getting some help to improve road safety.

Martinsburg, Wheeling and Star City will share close to $1 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to enhance road safety in their communities. The funds come from the Safe Streets and Roads for All discretionary program of the DOT, established as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. .

All three cities will use the money to create safety action plans focused on reducing fatal and severe injury crashes as well as generally improving safety and equity for all on the roads.

More than half of the money – $552,000 – will be used by the City of Martinsburg to develop their plan and transform the city’s transportation network to provide safe options to travel throughout the community.

The Belomar Regional Council, on behalf of the Wheeling metropolitan region, will receive $240,000. The council was established by the West Virginia Legislature in 1969 as one of eleven regional councils created throughout West Virginia. Belomar’s primary purpose was to foster cooperation for the planning and development of community and economic development and transportation projects. Its service area originally included Ohio and Marshall Counties in West Virginia and Belmont County in Ohio and expanded in 1972 to include Wetzel County.

Star City will receive $200,000.

“I’m pleased to announce these three DOT awards, which will boost road and travel safety for West Virginians and those visiting our great state,” said Senator Manchin. “I look forward to seeing their positive impacts for the Martinsburg, Wheeling and Star City communities for decades to come. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I will continue advocating for resources to upgrade and improve our transportation infrastructure.”

Mon Power, Potomac Edison Receive Federal Funds For Grid

The funding will help make the electricity grid more reliable for customers and enable the electrification of buildings and transportation.

FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison were awarded $50 million though the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships, or GRIP program.

The funding will help make the electricity grid more reliable for customers and enable the electrification of buildings and transportation.

In part, the upgrades aim to reduce the duration of service disruptions due to severe weather.

The program was created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito supported the infrastructure law and the FirstEnergy application for the GRIP funding. Capito is the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

“West Virginians deserve reliable access to electricity that keeps their lights on and homes warm. Initiatives like this strengthen the reliability of our grid and prevent our residents from experiencing costly interruptions that impact their lives and safety,” she said in a statement.

The funding will also create a four-year apprenticeship program with training centers in Fairmont and Williamsport, Maryland, near Martinsburg.