Mr.

Bradley
/ 2 Senator Glenn

S. S ._____

Infrastructure Improvement
To provide increased investment and improvement towards substandard infrastructure with an increase to property
tax, maintenance of pipelines, and an increase to water usage tax.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Infrastructure Improvement

Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,

1) Bridges across the country are in desperate need of repair, according to an alarming report earlier this
year from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association.
2) American Society for Civil Engineers gave the U.S. infrastructure a D+ in its annual report card.
3) The 2.5 million miles of Americas pipelines suffer hundreds of leaks and ruptures every year.
4) More than 11 percent of total highway bridges in the U.S. are classified as structurally deficient,
according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHA).
5) Phosphorus, nitrogen, and other contaminants found in the untreated sewage that, according to EPA
estimates, flows out of Americas treatment plants during the 23,000 to 75,000 sanitary-sewer overflows
that happen per year.
6) Congress banned lead water pipes 30 years ago, between 3.3 million and 10 million older ones remain.
7) The nation's roads cost the average driver $515 in extra operation and maintenance costs on their car.
8)There are 600,000 miles of sewer pipes across the country and the average age is 33 years. Some pipes in
cities along the eastern seaboard are nearly 200 years old. Some are even made of wood.
9 )According to the 2013 report card by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the U.S. has serious
infrastructure needs of more than $3.4 trillion through 2020.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE

A) The Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2016 requires that each state submit a new increased tax on
property to be looked at by the IRS by December 1st, 2016. The new property tax must provide enough
funds to repair 75% of roads and sewers need of maintenance in the State. The IRS, Federal Housing
Administration, and, US Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration shall determine if the the new tax shall be put into effect or revised. The money gained
must be used by each respective state for maintenance of roads, bridges and sewers.
B) Industries and companies in use of pipelines must enforce the safety of gas pipelines and constant
inspections. Every inspection includes a test for a pipelines ability to withstand high pressures, corrosion,
and natural disasters. All pipelines built before 1999 have first priority for inspection, testing, and
maintenance. If a pipeline fails testing and is deemed unsafe by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration or EPA, the industry or company using the pipeline must provide funds to repair or
replace the line. The PHMSA must also determine and regulate a fine on pipeline accidents such as leaks
and explosions. Each state must submit a raised tax on water usage to the IRS by December 1st, 2016. The
new tax must provide enough finances to replace all major lead water pipes in the state by 2020. It must
also provide finances to maintain or improve water treatment facilities and spill prevention. The EPA and
PHMSA must also inform the public of the danger of lead pipes in homes and encourage the replacement
of lead pipes by 2020.
C) The Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2016 will go into effect January 1st, 2017.

Press Release
The purpose of the Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2016 is to address and fix Americas
infrastructure. As of now there are roads, pipelines, water systems, and more that are in need of
maintenance. However due to the lack of finances they are unable to be fixed resulting in accidents such
as gas line explosions or bridge collapses. If infrastructure doesnt become a priority, there will be more
costs to pay and more structures to be repaired. Annual productivity will also stay at a minimum since
roads and other structure are unable to support the growing population of American citizens. Hence why
America should invest into repairing roads, gas pipelines, and water lines.
Investment in road repairs will have a significant effect is given the needed funds. It was found
that the average American commuter wastes a total of 38 hours in traffic per year. This amounts to 5.5
billion hours lost in U.S. productivity annually and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel (Kanter). Time
loss is the equivalent of lost profit. Also buy maintaining roads, fuel, a precious resource, wont be
wasted in stop-and-go traffic or bumpy roads. In addition as population increases roads will need to
keep up with more generations of commuters but with no funding towards road infrastructure, no reform
can be made to solve such issues. People need to get to their jobs, and the faster they get there the more
they can work. However, roads are a visible issue that many already consider; there are more unseen
problems, buried underground.
A more overlooked issue is gas pipelines, which require investment to prevent disasters and
spills. One example of gas pipeline failure is San Bruno, resulting in 8 killed, 58 injured, and 108
homes damaged or destroyed (Davidson et al.). However such incidents have occurred more recently.
since 2009, the annual number of significant accidents on oil and petroleum pipelines has shot up by
almost 60 percent (Jackson). These accidents already reveal that more than half of the current gas
pipelines are insufficient for supporting the increasing amount of crude oil production. Also this rate of
accidents wont stay the same for decades as critics warn that the risk of accidents on those lines will
only increase (Groeger). If no investment is made the situation will eventually reach a stage where gas
line everywhere is a ticking time bomb waiting for the perfect time. More explosions and leaks will
occur, causing injuries and wasting gas. However, another time bomb lies in pipelines for water.
Similar to gas pipelines, water infrastructure, also requires investment for the safety of American
citizens and water saving. There have been cases of lead present in tap water due to corrosion in old lead
pipes. As most know, lead poisoning is a serious issue, causing a variety of symptoms and is linked to
anemia, learning disabilities, and damage to the central nervous system and immune system (Lead Fact
Sheet) Such symptoms caused by lead poisoning have significant effects on peoples lives, especially
children. However, even though Congress banned lead water pipes 30 years ago, between 3.3 million
and 10 million older ones remain (Wines) poisoning the countrys water. That ban may still exist, but is
has no value until all lead water pipes are replaced with safer lines. In addition old water pipes continue
to leak valuable purified drinking water 2.1 trillion gallons(Schaper) on estimate every year. With
states such as California in danger of a drought drinkable water shouldnt be taken for granted. But with
pipes naturally leaking such efforts such as sprinklers at night and no wasting water have no real effect.
Hence why Americas infrastructure should be addressed to prevent water contamination and leaks.
Therefore, America needs to invest in infrastructure to maintain roads, remove dangerous lead
water pipes, and fix gas lines. If the country continues to procrastinate, safe tap water will have lead, gas
pipelines will fail, and roads wont be able to support the countrys transportation. In addition the The
2013 $3.6 trillion needed by 2020 to improve infrastructure will only increase per day.(2013 Report
Card). The best way to ease the current amount is by starting the process of repairing Americas
infrastructure.