Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), ranking Democrat of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, recently sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao urging the use of highway funds.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) had $911 million Federal-aid Highway Emergency Relief program funds available as of August. Nationally, $1.76 billion was needed in federal funds to make highway repairs. The figure does not include damage caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and by the western wildfires.
More than $500 million in projects would be completed immediately upon the receipt of funds, according to states and project sponsors. These funds were expected before the end of fiscal year 2017 but were not delivered.
“I urge you to act swiftly to distribute funding and reduce the backlog under the Federal-aid Highway Emergency Relief (ER) program,” DeFazio said. “I am sure you agree that providing prompt assistance to help restore and rebuild transportation facilities in the wake of a natural disaster is an important function of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Unfortunately, States and territories have recently faced delay in receiving reimbursement because the department has failed to approve funding distributions under the ER program in a timely manner.”
DeFazio hopes Congress will add additional funds to the ER program to address the shortfall.