Act Locally: An Equitable Investment Resource Guide for Advocates and Local Governments to Access Infrastructure Funding and Activate Bold Plans

Coauthored with MarySue Barrett, MSB Policy Consulting LLC

Communities across the United States are grappling with multiple challenges, such as lack of access to good jobs and economic opportunity, limited mobility choices, polluted air and water, and others. Luckily, new resources are available to help tackle these crises in creative and equitable ways at the local level. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 are delivering historic increases in federal infrastructure dollars. This resource guide was created to aid local advocates and local governments in accessing this new federal infrastructure funding and deploying it to meet their community needs.

This resource guide provides local advocates and government officials with vital information about 46 federal funding streams across transportation, building, and energy sectors with details on relevant state infrastructure policy and regulatory frameworks for all 50 states. In addition to providing details on how to access funding, we highlight key opportunities to use this funding in new ways to achieve local priorities. By tapping the ideas and data in this resource, advocates and local governments can confront environmental and racial injustices, center community wisdom, achieve climate gains, and unleash economic opportunity for all.

As a companion to the resource guide, NRDC also produced a slide deck that summarizes the guide, making note of the most compelling data points and examples. It is intended for local advocates and officials to download and use themselves. Please contact John Bailey, jbailey@nrdc.org, if you have any questions about this.