Resilient Highways Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5700 To amend title 23, United States Code, to ensure that Federal-aid highways and bridges are more resilient, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2020 Mr. KIM (for himself, Ms. FINKENAUER, Mr. ROUZER, and Ms. PINGREE) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 23, United States Code, to ensure that Fed- eral-aid highways and bridges are more resilient, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resilient Highways 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL HIGHWAY PERFORMANCE PROGRAM. 6 Section 119 of title 23, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 (1) in subsection (b)— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5700 IH (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(4) to provide support for measures to in- 6 crease the resiliency of Federal-aid highways and 7 bridges on and off the National Highway System to 8 mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and extreme 9 weather events.’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(k) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may use not more 13 than 15 percent of the funds apportioned to the 14 State under section 104(b)(1) for each fiscal year 15 for a protective feature on a Federal-aid highway or 16 bridge, if the protective feature is an economically 17 justified improvement designed to mitigate the risk 18 of recurring damage or the cost of future repairs 19 from extreme weather, flooding, and other natural 20 disasters. 21 ‘‘(2) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DESCRIBED.—A 22 protective feature referred to in paragraph (1) may 23 include— 24 ‘‘(A) raising roadway grades; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5700 IH ‘‘(B) relocating roadways in a floodplain to 1 higher ground above projected flood elevation 2 levels or away from slide prone areas; 3 ‘‘(C) stabilizing slide areas; 4 ‘‘(D) stabilizing slopes; 5 ‘‘(E) installing riprap; 6 ‘‘(F) lengthening or raising bridges to in- 7 crease waterway openings; 8 ‘‘(G) deepening channels to prevent flood- 9 ing; 10 ‘‘(H) increasing the size or number of 11 drainage structures; 12 ‘‘(I) replacing culverts with bridges or 13 upsizing culverts; 14 ‘‘(J) repairing or maintaining tide gates; 15 ‘‘(K) installing seismic retrofits on bridges; 16 ‘‘(L) adding scour protection at bridges; 17 ‘‘(M) adding spur dikes; 18 ‘‘(N) the use of natural infrastructure to 19 mitigate the risk of recurring damage or the 20 cost of future repair from extreme weather, 21 flooding, and other natural disasters; 22 ‘‘(O) removing debris from rivers, creeks, 23 streams, and ditches; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5700 IH ‘‘(P) any other features that mitigate the 1 risk of recurring damage or the cost of future 2 repair as a result of extreme weather, flooding, 3 and other natural disasters, as determined by 4 the Secretary. 5 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub- 6 section limits the ability of a State to carry out a 7 project otherwise eligible under subsection (d) using 8 funds apportioned under section 104(b)(1).’’. 9 SEC. 3. FEDERAL SHARE PAYABLE. 10 Section 120(c) of title 23, United States Code, is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(4) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 14 other provision of law, the Federal share pay- 15 able for the cost of a protective feature on a 16 Federal-aid highway or bridge project under 17 this title may be up to 100 percent, at the dis- 18 cretion of the State, if the protective feature is 19 an economically justified improvement to miti- 20 gate the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 21 future repair from extreme weather, flooding, 22 and other natural disasters. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5700 IH ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE- 1 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 2 subparagraph (A) may include— 3 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 4 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a flood- 5 plain to higher ground above projected 6 flood elevation levels or away from slide 7 prone areas; 8 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 9 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 10 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 11 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 12 increase waterway openings; 13 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 14 flooding; 15 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 16 of drainage structures; 17 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 18 or upsizing culverts; 19 ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 20 gates; 21 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 22 bridges; 23 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 24 bridges; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5700 IH ‘‘(xiii) adding spur dikes; 1 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc- 2 ture to mitigate the risk of recurring dam- 3 age or the cost of future repair from ex- 4 treme weather, flooding, and other natural 5 disasters; 6 ‘‘(xv) removing debris from rivers, 7 creeks, streams, and ditches; and 8 ‘‘(xvi) any other features that mitigate 9 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 10 future repair as a result of extreme weath- 11 er, flooding, and other natural disasters, as 12 determined by the Secretary.’’. 13 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY RELIEF. 14 Section 125 of title 23, United States Code, is 15 amended— 16 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘wildfire, 17 sea level rise,’’ after ‘‘severe storm’’; 18 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON ELIGIBILITY.—Funds under 21 this section shall not be used for the repair or reconstruc- 22 tion of a bridge that has been permanently closed to all 23 vehicular traffic by the State or responsible local official 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5700 IH because of imminent danger of collapse due to a structural 1 deficiency or physical deterioration.’’; and 2 (3) in subsection (d)— 3 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 4 (i) by striking the period at the end 5 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 6 (ii) by striking ‘‘a facility that meets 7 the current’’ and inserting the following: 8 ‘‘a facility that— 9 ‘‘(i) meets the current’’; and 10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(ii) incorporates economically justifi- 13 able improvements designed to mitigate the 14 risk of recurring damage from extreme 15 weather, flooding, and other natural disas- 16 ters.’’; 17 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 18 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re- 19 spectively; and 20 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(3) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The cost of an im- 24 provement that is part of a project under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5700 IH section shall be an eligible expense under this 1 section if the improvement is a protective fea- 2 ture that is economically justified to mitigate 3 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of fu- 4 ture repair from extreme weather, flooding, and 5 other natural disasters. 6 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE- 7 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 8 subparagraph (A) may include— 9 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 10 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a flood- 11 plain to higher ground above projected 12 flood elevation levels or away from slide 13 prone areas; 14 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 15 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 16 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 17 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 18 increase waterway openings; 19 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 20 flooding; 21 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 22 of drainage structures; 23 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 24 or upsizing culverts; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5700 IH ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 1 gates; 2 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 3 bridges; 4 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 5 bridges; 6 ‘‘(xiii) adding spur dikes; 7 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc- 8 ture to mitigate the risk of recurring dam- 9 age or the cost of future repair from ex- 10 treme weather, flooding, and other natural 11 disasters; 12 ‘‘(xv) removing debris from rivers, 13 creeks, streams, and ditches; and 14 ‘‘(xvi) any other features that mitigate 15 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 16 future repair as a result of extreme weath- 17 er, flooding, and other natural disasters, as 18 determined by the Secretary.’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5700.IH H5700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS