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The SAFETEA-LU legislation authorized the U.S. Treasury to approve the issuance of up to $15 billion in tax-exempt bonds for PPP-type surface transportation projects. As the state-by-state recap below makes clear, the extent of such projects is on a strong uptrend, raising the question of when the $15 billion total may be reached. The July-August 2012 issue of Public Works Financing provided a useful recap, summarized here.
By autumn 2012, according to Jack Bennett of U.S. DOT, seven project sponsors had issued $2.815 billion in PABs for the following projects:
- I-495 Capital Beltway, VA: $588M
- North Tarrant Express, TX: $400M
- LBJ Express, TX: $615M
- Denver Eagle Rail, CO: $398M
- CenterPoint Intermodal, IL: $150M
- Midtown Tunnel, VA: $664M
- I-95 Express Lanes, VA: $261M
Six projects had been allocated $4.696 billion in PABs that had not, as of then, been issued:
- Knik Arm Bridge, AK: $600M
- CenterPoint Intermodal, IL: $1,190M
- I-80 rail port, IL: $576M
- CenterPoint Intermodal, MO: $475M
- Ridge Port Logistics Ctr., IL: $555M
- Northwest Corridor, GA: $700M
Were all of those in the second list to be issued in the amounts shown, that would leave $7.5 billion to be allocated to future projects. When this article appeared, $4 billion worth of requests already awaited DOT’s credit committee review and approval. That would leave just $3.5 billion of available bond capacity, with less than two years to go until the next reauthorization (assuming Congress enacts a successor as soon as MAP-21 expires on Sept. 30, 2014). With so many PPP megaprojects in the pipeline and Congress having experienced multi-year delays in passing both SAFETEA-LU and MAP-21, it is likely that demand for this kind of PAB will have reached or exceeded the current $15 billion cap well before the next reauthorization.
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