Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation; CP staff
The Federal Highway Administration confirms a 20 percent increase in funding apportioned to the 50 states and District of Columbia: $52.5 billion for fiscal year 2022, versus $42 billion for 2021 (October 2020-September 2021). Annual funding the agency disburses for the Federal-aid Highway Program is based on a statutory formula contained in the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
In implementing IIJA, U.S. DOT and FHWA officials believe Federal-aid Highway Program apportionments, as well as additional formula funding under the Highway Infrastructure Program and discretionary dollars to be made available through new and existing program grants, will address long-overdue needs hampering road, highway and bridge safety and performance. Additional funding to be announced next year will contribute to fixing up to 10 of the most economically significant bridges in the nation; repairing over 15,000 smaller bridges across the country; and, reconnecting as many as 20 communities by removing portions of interstates and redesigning rural main streets.
“Providing states with information on their apportioned funds is an important first step in using [IIJA] resources to make transportation systems across the country safer and more resilient,” says Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “We look forward to working with transportation agencies and the communities they serve to use these resources.”
Federal-aid Highway Program funds are authorized periodically by Congress in multi-year laws to assist states in providing for construction, reconstruction, and improvement of highways and bridges on eligible Federal-aid routes and for other special purpose programs or projects. IIJA establishes or continues FHWA programs and authorizes funding for them from the Highway Trust Fund. As a first step, the agency is distributing FY2022 funds through a process known as an apportionment, using a statutory formula to determine the amount available to each state. In addition to the apportionment of funding, FHWA will issue obligation limitation, which allows states to commit a portion of their apportioned funding, for the period through February 18, 2022, when the current Continuing Resolution for Federal Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations ends. — www.fhwa.dot.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/funding.cfm