{ "id": "R43384", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43384", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 462352, "date": "2017-06-29", "retrieved": "2018-05-10T13:02:06.566546", "title": "Emergency Relief for Disaster-Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief", "summary": "Major roads and bridges are part of the federal-aid highway system and are therefore eligible for assistance under the Emergency Relief Program (ER) of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Following a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which damaged highways in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina), or catastrophic failure (such as the 2013 collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington State) ER funds are made available for both emergency repairs and restoration of federal-aid highway facilities to conditions comparable to those before the disaster.\nState departments of transportation typically have close ongoing relationships with FHWA\u2019s division offices in each state, which facilitate a quick, coordinated response to disasters. Although ER is a federal program, the decision to seek ER funding is made by the state, not by the federal government.\nThe program is funded by a permanent annual authorization of $100 million from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) along with general fund appropriations provided by Congress on a \u201csuch sums as necessary\u201d basis. A number of issues have arisen in recent years:\nThe scope of eligible activities funded by ER has grown via legislative or FHWA waiving of eligibility requirements or changes in definitions. As a result, in some cases the ER program has funded activities that have gone beyond repairing or restoring highways to predisaster condition.\nThe $100 million annual authorization has been exceeded nearly every fiscal year, requiring appropriations that can lead to delay in funding permanent repairs.\nCongress has directed that in some cases ER fully fund highway projects, without the normal 10% or 20% state matching share, increasing the federal outlay for disaster highway assistance on these projects and constraining the funds available for other ER requests.\nThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that FHWA\u2019s partnership with the states was sometimes so close that some division offices were reluctant to enforce compliance with the requirements of the ER program. FHWA has taken certain corrective actions which Congress might find of oversight interest. \nThe 112th Congress authorized an emergency relief program for public transportation systems. However, this program does not have a permanent funding source, and funds are to be provided only by appropriation. The 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act (P.L. 113-2) made available appropriations of $10.9 billion (reduced by $545 million by sequestration) for the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program. There have been no further appropriations since 2013.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43384", "sha1": "a1a592bae57a9e6bf9fd476fe1d23e830252dd38", "filename": "files/20170629_R43384_a1a592bae57a9e6bf9fd476fe1d23e830252dd38.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43384", "sha1": "59229c738d0bbbcb797cb175785035e2ec649557", "filename": "files/20170629_R43384_59229c738d0bbbcb797cb175785035e2ec649557.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4826, "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 453884, "date": "2016-06-27", "retrieved": "2016-10-17T19:48:44.592406", "title": "Emergency Relief for Disaster-Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief", "summary": "Major roads and bridges are part of the federal-aid highway system and are therefore eligible for assistance under the Emergency Relief Program (ER) of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Following a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012 or the West Virginia flooding of 2016), or catastrophic failure (such as the 2013 collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington State) ER funds are made available for both emergency repairs and restoration of federal-aid highway facilities to conditions comparable to those before the disaster.\nState departments of transportation typically have close ongoing relationships with FHWA\u2019s division offices in each state, which facilitate a quick, coordinated response to disasters. Although ER is a federal program, the decision to seek ER funding is made by the state, not by the federal government.\nThe program is funded by a permanent annual authorization of $100 million from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) along with general fund appropriations provided by Congress on a \u201csuch sums as necessary\u201d basis. A number of issues have arisen in recent years:\nThe scope of eligible activities funded by ER has grown via legislative or FHWA waiving of eligibility requirements or changes in definitions. As a result, in some cases the ER program has funded activities that have gone beyond repairing or restoring highways to pre-disaster condition.\nThe $100 million annual authorization has been exceeded nearly every fiscal year, requiring appropriations that can lead to delay in funding permanent repairs.\nCongress has directed that in some cases ER fully fund projects, without the normal 10% or 20% state matching share, increasing the federal outlay for disaster highway assistance on these projects and constraining the funds available for other ER requests.\nThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that FHWA\u2019s partnership with the states was sometimes so close that some division offices were reluctant to enforce compliance with the requirements of the ER program. FHWA has taken certain corrective actions which Congress might find of oversight interest. \nThe 112th Congress authorized an emergency relief program for public transportation systems. However, this program does not have a permanent funding source, and funds are to be provided only by appropriation. The 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act (P.L. 113-2) made available appropriations of $10.9 billion (reduced by $545 million by sequestration) for the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program. There have been no further appropriations since 2013.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43384", "sha1": "e9d0aee8c13daee35a2223a203008d1456cbe57e", "filename": "files/20160627_R43384_e9d0aee8c13daee35a2223a203008d1456cbe57e.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43384", "sha1": "88cb17008e770fe4ab473e336fe48473ea4aa508", "filename": "files/20160627_R43384_88cb17008e770fe4ab473e336fe48473ea4aa508.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4826, "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4845, "name": "Federal Emergency Management" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 446154, "date": "2015-10-02", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T18:16:01.158931", "title": "Emergency Relief for Disaster-Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief", "summary": "Major roads and bridges are part of the federal-aid highway system and are therefore eligible for assistance under the Emergency Relief Program (ER) of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Following a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012) or catastrophic failure (such as the 2013 collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington State), ER funds are made available for both emergency repairs and restoration of federal-aid highway facilities to conditions comparable to those before the disaster.\nState departments of transportation typically have close ongoing relationships with FHWA\u2019s division offices in each state, which facilitate a quick, coordinated response to disasters. Although ER is a federal program, the decision to seek ER funding is made by the state, not by the federal government.\nThe program is funded by a permanent annual authorization of $100 million from the highway trust fund (HTF) along with general fund appropriations provided by Congress on a \u201csuch sums as necessary\u201d basis. A number of issues have arisen in recent years:\nThe scope of eligible activities funded by ER has grown via legislative or FHWA waiving of eligibility requirements or changes in definitions. As a result, in some cases the ER program has funded activities that have gone beyond repairing or restoring highways to pre-disaster condition.\nThe $100 million annual authorization has been exceeded nearly every fiscal year, requiring appropriations that can lead to delay in funding permanent repairs.\nCongress has directed that in some cases ER fully fund projects, without the normal 10% or 20% state matching share, increasing the federal outlay for disaster highway assistance on these projects and constraining the funds available for other ER requests.\nThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that FHWA\u2019s partnership with the states was sometimes so close that some division offices were reluctant to enforce compliance with the requirements of the ER program. FHWA has taken certain corrective actions which Congress might find of oversight interest. \nThe 112th Congress authorized an emergency relief program for public transportation systems. However, this program does not have a permanent funding source, and funds are to be provided only by appropriation. The 2013 Disaster Relief Appropriations Act (P.L. 113-2) made available appropriations of $10.9 billion (reduced by $545 million by sequestration) for the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program. There have been no further appropriations since 2013.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43384", "sha1": "71ff97374ee1b1defe0ab582119f48784e5ee0ad", "filename": "files/20151002_R43384_71ff97374ee1b1defe0ab582119f48784e5ee0ad.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43384", "sha1": "e4f600115c892c10e37f11a8b514d211c649abec", "filename": "files/20151002_R43384_e4f600115c892c10e37f11a8b514d211c649abec.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2432, "name": "Disaster Recovery, Mitigation, and Funding" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3760, "name": "Surface Transportation" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc812843/", "id": "R43384_2014Sep03", "date": "2014-09-03", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Emergency Relief for Disaster Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140903_R43384_54786f5a6f117a2b004072ba0c1ffce19d5f2752.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140903_R43384_54786f5a6f117a2b004072ba0c1ffce19d5f2752.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc276855/", "id": "R43384_2014Jan28", "date": "2014-01-28", "retrieved": "2014-03-05T18:18:19", "title": "Emergency Relief for Disaster Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief", "summary": "This report describes Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) assistance for the repair and reconstruction of highways and bridges damaged by disasters (such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012) or catastrophic failures (such as the collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in 2013). It begins with a brief discussion of the legislative origins of federal assistance and then addresses eligibility issues and program operation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140128_R43384_4dacb7ba3db806d559fd0b659cbb7dfeee67dcfa.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140128_R43384_4dacb7ba3db806d559fd0b659cbb7dfeee67dcfa.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Emergency management", "name": "Emergency management" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Disasters", "name": "Disasters" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Disaster relief", "name": "Disaster relief" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Motor transportation", "name": "Motor transportation" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations", "Environmental Policy", "Transportation Policy" ] }