Hurricane Sandy has done a great deal of damage to the nation’s transportation infrastructure. President Obama has called for federal agencies to act quickly to bring all available resources to bear as quickly as possible. Restoring critical transportation infrastructure is essential in times of emergency because it allows first responders and relief workers to access impacted communities. It also allows impacted services to be restored quickly. Different agencies are able to help with the damaged transportation infrastructure in different ways.
The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) put out a statement that stated that they were “ready to support recovery efforts in any way that [they] can to get transit agencies up and running as quickly as possible.” Sadly, this support does not include money. When the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) transportation bill was passed in July, it created a new “public transportation emergency relief program” that would let the FTA make grants for operations, repairs, equipment, and other things after a natural disaster. Unfortunately, the Continuing Resolution (CR) passed by Congress in September extended funds from the previous Department of Transportation (DOT) appropriations bill, which did not include the new FTA emergency program. The end effect of this is that the FTA is unable to make emergency grants. What the FTA can do is deploy transportation experts to needed areas and coordinate the donation of people and equipment to the most severely impacted transit agencies.
The Federal Highway Administration announced Wednesday that it is making available $13 million in quick release emergency relief funds to New York and Rhode Island. The amount is 100% of the requested amount for both New York and Rhode Island. Rhode Island will use the funds to repair damaged sea walls that support roadways. New York will use the funds for general emergency repairs to federal aid highways. The Department of Transportation is expecting other states that have been impacted by the hurricane to make additional emergency requests. To help speed up access to the funds, Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood held a conference call on Tuesday afternoon with officials from 14 of the states that were impacted by the storm. Finally, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has temporarily lifted hours of service requirements and other regulations that may impede the delivery of direct emergency relief. With these regulations temporarily lifted, interstate motor carrier drivers will be able to reach impacted areas more quickly.
If Congress returns in mid-November and passes a Hurricane Sandy related emergency appropriations bill, further transportation infrastructure emergency issues can be addressed.
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