U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) joined 14 of his Senate colleagues recently to introduce legislation that will improve the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Emergency Response (ER) program.
The bill would bring the FTA ER program into parity with the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) program that provides emergency response for the country’s highways and roads. Called the Transit Emergency Relief Act, it would provide a consistent funding source for FTA emergency response and grant the agency flexibility in how to allocate those funds.
“The bottom line is that emergencies should be met with emergency level responses. The collapse and twelve day rebuild of I-95 showed what is possible when we get federal dollars out the door quickly,” Fetterman said. “When disaster strikes, agencies— which are often already strapped for cash—are forced to foot the bill and hope FTA can reimburse later. The Federal Emergency Relief Act is a simple fix to make a federal program work better and bring real relief to the transit operators that Pennsylvanians rely on.”
Currently, FTA ER funds take months or years to get to transit operators after natural disasters and other emergencies that affect transit infrastructure, Fetterman said. That can impede the agencies’ ability to respond to the emergencies. Delays are cause by FTA ER funds needing to be authorized by Congress only after a disaster that affects transit infrastructure strikes. The FHWA’s Emergency Relief program, in contrast, can get money where it needs to go within days of a disaster, Fetterman’s office said, because it has a $100 million funding authorization from the Highway Trust Fund.
Sen. Fetterman is joined on the bill by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-CT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).