Press Release: Gov. Evers, WisDOT Announce Nearly $32 Million Federal Grant to Promote Use of Sustainable Construction Materials, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 11/25/2024 11:00 AM CST
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 25, 2024
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
Gov. Evers, WisDOT Announce Nearly $32 Million Federal Grant to Promote Use of Sustainable Construction Materials, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
 
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today announced that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) received a nearly $32 million federal grant to create a program that will promote transportation improvement projects that incorporate materials that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The investment, awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s Low-Carbon Transportation Materials (LCTM) Grants Program, is funded through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.  

“Thanks to the steadfast support of the Biden-Harris Administration, this critical funding is helping Wisconsin make good on our promise to leave our kids with a brighter, healthier world than the one we inherited while also maintaining our work to build the 21st-century infrastructure we need to compete in our 21st-century economy,” said Gov. Evers. “The climate crisis is happening right before our eyes, and working to limit our greenhouse gas emissions is a huge part of that fight. From joining the U.S. Climate Alliance and launching our state’s first-ever Clean Energy Plan to expanding our state’s electric vehicle infrastructure, we are working hard with our partners to reach our collective goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

“This grant will help us better measure the carbon footprint of transportation projects in Wisconsin,” said WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. “This will allow us to increase the use of low-carbon materials and improve the sustainability of our transportation system without sacrificing performance.”

According to research from the United Nations Environment Programme, the buildings and construction sector accounts for approximately 37 percent of global emissions. With these federal funds, WisDOT will launch a pilot program to study and incorporate evidence-based strategies that measure the environmental impact of construction materials as it relates to carbon emissions. Outcomes of the program will be used to inform future infrastructure projects and build toward broader adoption of low-carbon transportation materials throughout the state.

WisDOT awards and executes highway construction contracts that use concrete and asphalt materials. This grant funding will allow the department to set sustainability benchmarks for contracts on state projects to accelerate efforts to build an environmentally sustainable infrastructure program. 

WisDOT will set up a framework to study eligible materials and incentivize LCTM. WisDOT will also explore ways to verify lower greenhouse gas emissions on the pilot projects. With this data, the goal is to determine what improvements can be made to implement a full-scale LCTM program in Wisconsin.

The LCTM pilot program builds on the Evers Administration’s previous efforts to reduce transportation-related green house gas emissions. In March, Gov. Evers signed historic legislation enabling WisDOT to receive and administer more than $78 million in federal funds under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to bolster the state’s EV infrastructure, and in May, Gov. Evers then announced 53 locations would become the first federally funded fast charging EV stations in the state. Additionally, in September, Gov. Evers announced more than $10 million in federal funding to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion in Wisconsin through the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program. Finally, in 2022, Gov. Evers, together with the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy announced the state’s first-ever Clean Energy Plan to minimize greenhouse gas emissions through the implementation of more sustainable practices and clean energy sources while working to create thousands of new jobs and lowering energy bills and prices for working families across Wisconsin. More information on the progress of the state’s clean energy plan is available here.  
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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