Highway Emergency Relief: Strengthened Oversight of Project Eligibility Decisions Needed

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), administers the Emergency Relief Program to provide funds to states to repair roads damaged by natural disasters and catastrophic failures. Previously, we reported that states' annual demand for emergency relief funds often exceeded the program's $100 million annual authorization from the Highway Trust Fund and required supplemental appropriations from general revenues to address a backlog of funding requests from states. In November 2011, we reported that FHWA had a $485 million backlog of funding requests from states. Because the program lacks time frames to limit states from requesting funds years after events occur, this backlog contained almost $90 million in formal funding requests for several events that occurred between 1983 and 1993 that were previously determined to be eligible by FHWA. Without time limits for emergency relief funding requests, FHWA (1) faces the risk of states filing claims for additional funding years after an event's occurrence, particularly for projects that grow significantly in cost or scope over time; and (2) is hindered in its ability to manage future claims to the program and creates a situation where Congress may be asked to provide additional supplemental appropriations for emergency relief years after an event occurs. Therefore, we recommended FHWA establish specific time frames to limit states' ability to request emergency relief funds years after an event's occurrence, so that FHWA can better manage the financial risk of reimbursing states for projects that have grown in scope and cost. In response to our recommendation, Congress and FHWA took several actions. First, in July 2012, Congress passed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), which amended eligibility requirements for the emergency relief program by requiring states to submit to DOT a comprehensive list of all eligible project sites and repair costs by not later than 2 years after the natural disaster or catastrophic failure. Second, in May 2013, FHWA revised its Emergency Relief Manual to incorporate this and other program changes required by MAP-21. Third, in February 2016, FHWA issued an Order intended to strengthen the administration and oversight of the Emergency Relief Program, which further clarified the program's rules for states submitting funding requests. This Order directed FHWA division officials to ensure that a state's detailed damage inspection reports--which document the damage, scope, and estimated cost of the repair work, and the eligibility of repairs--are completed within 3 months of the event. Further, the Order directed FHWA division officials to ensure that states understand that no new sites may be added to the comprehensive list of eligible project sites and costs later than 2 years after the disaster start date. The Order also directs FHWA officials to monitor states' project costs to ensure that any cost increases are not the result of unjustified or ineligible scope changes. These actions will provide FHWA with an important tool to control its exposure to the costs of older events. These actions also will help ensure that if emergency relief projects grow in scope and cost, these projects will not expand beyond the original intent of the program, which is to assist states to restore damaged highway facilities to their predisaster conditions.

In January 2012, FHWA issued written guidance to its staff directing them to no longer permit this practice. FHWA also instituted an internal control to track each states' balance of unused funds on a monthly basis so that unused funding can be more easily identified and withdrawn. Using this new practice, FHWA identified and withdrew a net present value of $231,217,468.80 in unused allocations in fiscal year 2012. According to FHWA officials, this savings was directly attributable to the directive prohibiting states from transferring unused allocations to new events and to the recommendation in GAO's November 2011 report and has led to improved FHWA financial oversight of Emergency Relief funds.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), administers the Emergency Relief Program to provide funds to states to repair roads damaged by natural disasters and catastrophic failures. In December 2011, GAO reported that there are substantial amounts of Emergency Relief Program funding obligated to states that remain unexpended. However, FHWA lacks information to determine the amount that is unneeded and could be deobligated because there is no time frame for closing out completed emergency relief projects. FHWA officials reported that many emergency relief projects are administered by local public agencies, including towns and counties, and these entities are often slow to process their reimbursement requests through the state department of transportation. As such, FHWA lacks information on the status of these projects and whether projects are ongoing or have been completed. Without clear time frames for states to close out completed emergency relief projects, FHWA lacks important information on the status of projects and whether unexpended project funds are no longer needed and could be made available for other emergency relief projects. Therefore, GAO recommended that the Secretary of Transportation direct the FHWA to establish clear time frames for states to close out completed projects in order to improve FHWA's ability to assess whether unexpended program funds are no longer needed and could be deobligated. On December 26, 2013, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued final guidance that provides a governmentwide framework for grants management - Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Under the governmentwide guidance, federal awards, including emergency relief projects, must include a period of performance with a project agreement start and end date (time frame), after which no additional costs may be incurred and are not eligible for reimbursement. The OMB governmentwide guidance requires that recipients submit all eligible incurred costs and required performance and financial reports within 90-days after the project end date, and also requires the federal awarding agency to close out the award within one-year after the recipient completes these actions. On December 4, 2014, FHWA issued a memorandum to all divisions describing the key changes to FHWA grant procedures made by OMB's governmentwide guidance, including the period of performance and close-out requirements. On December 17, 2015, DOT issued a Final Rule adopting and implementing OMB's governmentwide guidance, with the new requirements effective for all awards authorized on or after that date. FHWA officials confirmed that Emergency Relief Program funds are subject to these requirements and the established time frames are being used. As a result, FHWA has enhanced its the ability to better anticipate, manage, and account for Emergency Relief Program funds, so unexpended funds that are no longer needed can be deobligated and made available for other emergency relief projects.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), within the U.S. Department of Transportation, administers the Emergency Relief Program to provide funds to states to repair roads damaged by natural disasters and catastrophic failures. In 2011, we reported that many of the 83 project files we reviewed in three states did not contain documentation sufficient to support FHWA's decision that these projects met the eligibility requirements of the Emergency Relief Program. As a result, we were unable to determine the basis of FHWA's eligibility decisions on projects costing more than $190 million, raising questions about whether Emergency Relief Program funds were being put to their intended use. Specifically, we found (a) missing or incomplete damage inspection reports and repair cost estimates, (b) a lack of documentation demonstrating that emergency repairs were completed within 180 days of the disaster--a requirement to receive 100 percent federal reimbursement, and (c) a lack of documentation supporting "betterments"-- improvements or added protective features that go beyond restoring highway facilities to pre-disaster conditions. We recommended FHWA establish standardized procedures for FHWA division offices to follow in making eligibility decisions including (a) clear requirements that FHWA approve and retain damage inspection reports and detailed repair cost estimates; (b) a requirement that division offices verify and document the completion of emergency repairs within 180 days of an event to ensure that only emergency work completed within that time frame receives 100 percent federal funding; and (c) consistent standards for approving betterments, including guidance on what information the required benefit-cost analyses should include. In response to our recommendations, FHWA issued an Order in February 2016 intended to strengthen the administration and oversight of the Emergency Relief Program and ensure the use of funding for eligible projects. The Order included procedures to ensure that FHWA division offices approve and retain damage inspection reports with detailed repair cost estimates, delineate and document activities to be classified as emergency repairs, and verify and document that the appropriate federal share is being adhered to (and that only emergency work completed within 180 days receives 100 percent federal funding) using a risk based approach. The Order also contained standards for approving betterments, including plans to develop guidance on what information the required benefit-cost analyses should include. Implementing our recommendations to establish standardized procedures for making eligibility decisions for the Emergency Relief Program will provide greater assurance that emergency projects are in fact eligible for funding, and that FHWA makes eligibility determinations consistently and transparently.