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Summary

The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief Program (ERP) provides funds to help repair or reconstruct Federal-aid highways and roads on Federal lands that sustain serious damage from catastrophic failures or natural disasters. Since fiscal year 2012, Congress has appropriated $4 billion to the program, including $1.9 billion in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 after Hurricane Sandy caused widespread damage in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast in October 2012. The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) current strategic plan states that in anticipation of extreme weather events, it is imperative that the Department make the transportation system more resilient, especially when rebuilding or replacing storm damaged infrastructure. Due to the importance of protecting the Nation’s transportation assets and associated investments, we are initiating an audit of FHWA’s use of the ERP to improve the resilience of highway infrastructure. Our objective will be to assess FHWA’s processes and guidance for incorporating resilience improvements into emergency relief projects to rebuild damaged highway infrastructure.