Everyone in this room is so incredibly efficient. [applause] very excited to be here these past the first test. I am 2024 president of the american society. I want to thank our distinguished guests for joining us today. We have rick larson Ranking Member of the house transportation and infrastructure. I am very excited to continue to Work Together historic Infrastructure InvestmentsCongress Passed and they are working to ensure implementation make sure of the success. We published yesterday in the Infrastructure Investment need to act on federal investment will protect the industries from losing more than 1 trillion in economic output and help avoid more than 600 billing dollars and gives American Families an additional 550 billion in disposable income. I could use that, i dont know about you guys. 237,000 american jobs for the same. The right path for improving Critical Infrastructure network but our work is not done. We regard to keep this economic ecosystem an attractive investment payment ranging from reauthorization of other Infrastructure Investment displacements as we move into the 119 congress for the house and Transportation Committee has worked in a bipartisan manner to achieve infrastructure goals. Most recently and you could help us and we look ahead to the next congress, will keep considerations and reauthorization and reauthorizations fyi ja. I appreciate the opportunity with congressman larson who has been a great partner the roads and bridges should bring people together so as we look forward trying to build upon policing for decades working in a bipartisan manner to ensure we put policies in place for Water Resources in a foreign infrastructure we need to make sure we are building upon the mistakes that were made. As with back over the infrastructure bill, theres no question it is critical we need to look at three important things. Number one is looking at i i ja 70 to 80 to the life of the bill but was only executed around 20 of the actual dollars so understanding, it here we have infrastructure urgency and Product Development and Delivery System that reflects that urgency today, seven years and three months. Seven years and eight months for airport project in five years and three months for the average transit project today. Number two is making sure we are focused on the right Infrastructure Investment for the federal government. Make sure we are fully there. The component is making sure were working with our state and local governments to build the capacity of those things that dont have a federal nexus or interest to wear those things dont fall off the radar, fall off the table and our actual address. Those are three key things we need to do moving forward and begin looking for george with congressman larsen to address those. Thanks again for the chance to be here and answer a few questions about the next bipartisan infrastructure law. It will not be called iija. It will be something else. If you have ideas about what acronym you would like, were open, have whole contest about it. But if youre going to implement what the president calls infrastructure decking, remember this is a lot thats only five years old to have to do it again to get to ten years. And so we need to be thinking about this continued investment keeping the job creation going. Theres a reason for good reason many reasons why unemployment is below 4 for the longest stretch that we had in the last six you get one reason is because women and men are working in construction all over the country. Certainly arent my state and my district. My dish aukus will be dont talk much infrastructure week or decade. Everyday is infrastructure date in Washington State, second congressional district. If you want to do work in my district, were ready. If you find workers and in no thats one of the questions we have ahead of us as well, so it is being uncommitted. Its about two and half years old which is like being a toddler that for iija its middleaged. We are getting through it. We need to start thinking about what is going to be, what he will look like next. Some of these dollars, i think garrett is referring to are sitting in the budget of states. A lot of this monomer is a form of money, ghost estates and states are either programming it like my state, and an over all those dollars are larger going to go, from the federal formyl program because our state program pick some states have not. One thing you can do to help us is to talk to your legislators, your members of congress but also your local legislators in your states and tell them to get those dollars out the door. For whatever reason is the being held and not being spent or program yet, get on it. We need to get these dollars to work for people. Looking ahead as well, theres been announced in my state we were hitting unfortunately a high of road and highway deaths. And so Highway Safety needs to continue to be a primary care where seeing some of dollars being implement it locally in order to improve safe routes to schools, safe routes to anywhere. A lot of communities need to rebuild, rebuild some of that pedestrian infrastructure. So kids can get safety to school. I think a third issue to think ahead is the transition that weve seen in transit agencies. A lot of them are investing in low and no emissions come some electric buses come some propane below are in mission and no emission transit all over the country. We are able to do it because of the single largest transit investment we saw as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. Its a lot more work to do and i will look one more thing if i could and turned back over to marsia is the revenue to do these projects. The gas tax of the can have the age old conversation about the gas tax. I was on a committee in 2005 when we directed the Transportation Revenue Commission to write a report and pay at the time came up with, not came up with but discussed how we need to get to vehicle miles traveled. That was 2007. My math isnt too good but thats like 19,000 years ago when they came up with that recommendation. Now we still call that innovative. Theres no such thing as innovative financing. In transportation. It either pasteboard or doesnt pay for it. Theres no tricky way to do it so we need to think about things. Things. So our state Commission Just was able to get a grant in Washington State with oregon, utah, idaho, nevada and hawaii to collaborate on a road user charge, kind of like a vehicle miles traveled on, how to implement. Thats something when you do look at an addition to many other things including traditional funding but also what else were going to do your options are out there picked a matter of whether or not real users options in order to fund the trust fund so we can do this work. Thank you both. And really you both hit on this weve had this historic legislation and investment and infrastructure, but you both refer to implementation. So what are some of the successes and challenges that you are seeing with the state and local partners, with the federal government as part of the implication of this . Ill start and then turn it back. One is people. So think about in a couple ways. When we did, we would pass the bil actually put in several, many, do programs at the Transportation Department had great these rules around his programs. That delayed some of these programs to get them implemented, and as well like anyone else theres a a lack f people in the federal workforce to implement those programs. Seem to be over that hump and the dollars are now getting out the door. Thats one reason why we need to keep this engine going so we dont want to lose about muscle memory to get these dollars out the door. Second is workforce locally. I know its a challenge to a lot of you thats my mom. Its a challenge [laughing] because actually having people to do the work is very important. Some of the programs that some of the funding we approved are actually tied to work for 2000 as well. I was just in washington in my state. They have project where theyre putting, a credit for 78 charters for this library of comments projects as part of that great and part of the contract with the contractor theyre tying it to apprenticeships. I was able to visit that project, see the ibew union, work with her incoming students to show them how to come base basically how to install charging stations in order, sort of think of it as if you want the next generation infrastructure, we need to tye out to developing the next generation workforce to build the infrastructure. Thats the couple ways, couple things you to think about the challenges of workforce. Ive got five boys who need a job so im all for that. Go ahead, rick. In regard workforce and how we can get the capacity in place to actually deliver on these projects, i think that youve got two problems that are fairly distinctive one of them is i think that you do for lack of capacity in the pc space, professional engineers, Civil Engineers and others. Weve seen this. This been a Long Time Coming in that we dont have the workforce in the pipeline to students who are pursuing those engineering degrees. I think look, i come from a long line of Civil Engineers in my family, and i think one of the sort of disincentives that there is this long lead time to get your professional engineer, to get your staff. Going through the engineering intern, the programs we have to take as long as i think its five years now, for years, excuse me. For years now to go on beyond college to get that stamp. I think we really need to take a look at that and figure is her way for us to come to expedite that an obviously safety and professionalism is key but is it something we could be doing to up to incentivize and just not make that such insulin so far away . The second issue is more in the skill labor side, the bluecollar side. I think one of the challenges we created for cells as we saw during covid where we were creating all these programs where literally federal government, social or for program for computing with workforce, meaning to want to stay here and stay on unemployment and other Program Scope or a i going to when the workforce . I think we introduced this whole new lifestyle to a number of people that are still going to get over the hangover right now. So theres no question as congressman larsen noted that we need to make investment into Training Programs come into friendship programs that help to get the workforce, give the folks in the workforce trained and ready to go to build the capacity. But i do think on that p e side i think we need to take a fresh look at what the right training and curriculum is to get someone to have professional engineering stamp and are able to participate in the types of projects from the capacity. Thank you. And honestly, we are seeing sh a downturn in enrollment, we are, thats all we really just release the imax movie cities of the future. Weve got to get those fifthgraders and third graders if we want to become Civil Engineers. But i appreciate that feedback. If i can just, ten seconds. I think also adding, i know [laughing] but also looking at how to redesign what is Civil Engineer is for 2030 and beyond because its not the same as was thats actually what the movie is. So resilience. We are understanding that its becoming increasingly important as part of the design process as we experience a number of extreme events or even our bonding community, the projects are not lasting the length of time the bonds are. Which have severe economic social and humanitarian consequences. What can the federal government do to improve the resilience of projects that funds are roads, rails, bridges, et cetera, to meet his extreme weather events . 10 of the land areas represented by the coastal counties, parishes and brewers around the United States widow 40 of the population lives there. We are seeing increasing challenges with living in these coastal areas and the population is continuing to migrate to those places. In fact, both congressman larsen and i represent coastal districts. Weve got to get good, weve got to get good at living in sustainably living in coastal areas. One of the problems with being able to implement it, is the arduous process to go through regulatory. Weve got to have a more dynamic process. Im going to Say Something again that i said earlier. Weve got to have project Development Delivery process that reflects the urgency of the projects were working on. Number two is that youve got uncertainty with storm intensity, with storm frequency, with sea rise and all of these other factors. One of the things weve got to do is make sure were developing project solutions adaptation Resilient Solutions that do best in sort of transcended through those brackets of uncertainty for these things that we cant totally predictable nail down with an appropriate margin of error. There wasted that but the most important thing you got to incentivize resilience for adaptation by having a regular structure. Another thing on the funding site is a couple of Funding Sources to protect the grants and garret graves here is a champion of the program. These are discretionary grants the first round of grants i note came out recently in my state, the seaport of light received 24. 5 24. 5 million to do some work and as well as the council government. Examples are local. Receive nearly 300,000. Just to do baseline of what you need to do because, we havent found the people doing this plant in a while so they need to know what they need to do so they can then go pursue dollars to address the resiliency concerns. The second thing is we had a hearing last week, i think was last week, time travel stranger in congress. An usher when it was. Hearing in the Emergency Management subcommittee on the Brick Program, hazardous Mitigation Grant program. The Brick Program or try to get out ahead of the next weather event rather than rebuild where we are, actually literally money available to rebuild differently through the building resilience resilient infrastructure in our community grant, grants. So thats a critical tool as well but it also means folks, have to really communicating a lot to people if you can rebuild like we did an order to the next weather extreme weather event come to the exact same thing it would seem that again in my district in the border in what can count with a november 21 rains and floods and atmospheric rivers. To everyone who live there seems like one monthlong event. In the mac it was three separate offense which drives as are crazy. We talk to fema about that because they have to do with these one big long weather event. Administratively as three events. Its causing problems or trying to rebuild after that tried rebuild on those lessons so that if we get the same kind of weather, which were built the northwest, we will not have the same kind of results. The dollars are there. Thinking he had about what communities need to do ahead of these events and given what happens after these events to lower the likelihood same kind of damage occurs is going to be, you know, important mineshaft and never think about next extreme weather everything. Thank you. We could have a whole other session on uptodate codes and standards being adopted, but it did want to talk about the permitting process because it has been brought up. So deploying Infrastructure Investments quickly and safely mean rightsizing the permitting process required to get these underway permitting rules seem to be the issue not necessarily the legislation. We tried to use a sledgehammer instead of a flyswatter, when a flyswatter would be just as easy. What are some of the ideas you all have your considering what he comes to streamline or improving permitting in future infrastructure legislation . I do want you to save some time. He wants the rebuttal. Our right. So real quick. Look, i do want to do a bit of a celebration. I can june last year despite this crazy dysfunctional divisive congress that weve seen, in june of last you would reach of vipers agreement on nepa which is the first time effectively that wall has been a minute and amended it 35 pages of text, huge changes to. Did things like estimated earlier not a sevenyear or eight year Environmental Impact statement limiting in law to two years and one of 50 pages. Limiting to one euro and 75 pages, limiting the scope of an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact statement to quote reasonably foreseeable impact. Not all of these other pipedream type things. What is realistically could happen and that would look at that and mitigate . Looking at future without action and injuring you look at both the positive and negative consequence. Expanding use of category exclusions, ensuring you codify in long one federal agency in charge, not a committee any longer. All sorts of things, some really Good Progress i will make note i have been cruelly disappointed some of the rules, some of the roles making the white house recently did on this and they did not abide by the agreement and to think that something so will make it more complex and longer. In terms of next level stuff i think one of the key issues is judicial review. Right now we are seeing what you have attorneys waiting, statue limitations about to expire coming in at five years out, filing a lawsuit after record decision issued and further delaying this thing. On average 150 lawsuits a year are filed on nepa. Average they take excess of two years to resolve and the major