Equity and Efficiency in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Adaptation Investments

Public funding for adaptation to climate change may target both equity and efficiency. We evaluate adaptation funding allocated in the United States by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is under the equity-oriented Justice40 Initiative. We find that the funding disbursed to Census tracts increases with recent damages from climate hazards but is less clearly related to a prominent projection of future climate damages. We also find that funding does not increase in the poverty rate. Simple rules for reallocating funding to disadvantaged Census tracts may worsen the targeting of tracts exposed to climate risks, but mechanisms that account for exposure to climate change when reallocating funding can improve both equity and efficiency. We discuss trade-offs among different mechanisms for allocating adaptation funds. In practice, competitive grants target high-poverty Census tracts better than does discretionary spending by either state or federal governments.