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Summary

On November 14, we issued our fifth report in eight years on FHWA’s efforts to identify and release Federal-aid funds kept idle on transportation projects year after year. We found $258 million of unneeded funds in 14 states and estimated that states nationwide could release unneeded Federal-aid funds between $440 million and $775 million. In response to our audit, FHWA worked aggressively with the states to review inactive obligations and as a result released a total of $757 million of idle Federal-aid funds by September 30 and made them available for use on active transportation projects.

FHWA also endorsed our prior recommendations and identified implementation actions, such as establishing the new Financial Integrity Review and Evaluation Program and proposing amendments to its regulation governing when unneeded obligations should be released. FHWA agreed to continue working with the states to institutionalize processes to identify and release unneeded Federal-aid funds. This will ensure that the progress FHWA made this year is sustained in the future.