H.R. 2122 — IMPACT Act 2.0

This section establishes a Federal Highway Administration program to promote low-emissions cement, concrete, asphalt binder, and asphalt mixtures in state highway projects by providing states with (1) reimbursement for the incremental cost of such materials relative to traditional materials, (2) incentives equal to 2% of the cost of using such materials, and (3) technical assistance to develop performance-based specifications and standards and to benchmark embodied greenhouse gas emissions; authorizes $15 million for reimbursements and incentives for FY2025 through 2027; and requires coordination with the Department of Transportation's Every Day Counts Initiative. To be eligible, a state must adopt special provisions, performance standards, or embodied greenhouse gas reporting tools (e.g., environmental product declarations). This section further directs the agency to establish and maintain a public directory of eligible low-emissions materials submitted by states, with a submission procedure due within 180 days of enactment and approval or denial decisions required within 180 days of receipt (including written reasons for denial); approved materials may be used in any highway project.

This section expands eligible projects under the surface transportation block grant program (STBG)—which provides flexible funding to states for highway, transit, and related infrastructure—to include (25) projects using innovative, domestically produced cement, concrete, asphalt mixture, or asphalt binder manufactured via processes yielding superior durability, compressive/tensile strength, workability, environmental performance, or energy efficiency; and (26) advance multiyear contracts for specified quantities and prices of such materials, subject to limitations in new subsection (m) (e.g., no cancellation costs for recurring manufacturing, no advance payments before delivery, no price adjustments for lack of follow-on contracts, required producer progress demonstrations toward commercial production, and adherence to state preferences). It further authorizes states to use funds set aside under STBG subsection (h)(6) for such advance contracts, provided no payments until material delivery.