Pursuit's Take
“The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief Program (ERP) provides funds for the repair and reconstruction of highways and roads that have sustained serious damage from catastrophic failures or natural disasters, including extreme weather events.” Since 2012, Congress has appropriated $5.7 billion to ERP. This report assesses the “guidance and processes for incorporating resilience improvements into emergency relief projects to rebuild damaged highway infrastructure.”
According to the report, “The guidance does not define “resilience improvement,” inform States how to incorporate resilience improvements into emergency relief projects, or share related best practices.” Further, “These gaps in the guidance have led to inconsistent interpretations of what resilience is by the Agency’s Division Offices and State DOTs, and make it difficult for State DOTs to make informed decisions about how they should use emergency relief funding for projects.”
Read the full report