Sponsors (5)
The bill directs multi-year federal grants to harden key transportation corridors and improve regional resilience and mobility, but it requires substantial federal spending and local matching, funds only a few demonstrations, and may favor better-resourced applicants while some projects face permitting delays.
State and local governments (including MPOs) can access dedicated federal grants to protect major transportation assets from storms, flooding, and other natural hazards, enabling resilience investments they otherwise could not fund.
Communities served by selected projects (urban and rural) will likely see improved mobility, goods movement, and emergency response because critical corridors are hardened or adapted.
Local governments and small businesses can get grant support for predevelopment and construction (design, permitting, right-of-way, capital works), accelerating projects that otherwise lack funding to proceed.
Taxpayers face a sizable federal cost—$2 billion authorized per year for five years (totaling up to $10 billion authorized)—which increases federal spending and could require offsets.
Local sponsors must provide substantial matching funds (federal funding covers at most 80%), which is a barrier for poorer, rural, or Tribal jurisdictions and could limit which projects move forward.
Only a small number of competitive demonstration grants (up to 10) are available, so many deserving projects will not receive funding and benefits will be concentrated regionally rather than distributed nationwide.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a DOT competitive grant program to award up to 10 demonstration grants for projects that make critical transportation infrastructure resilient to natural hazards.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program for demonstration projects that make critical transportation infrastructure resilient to natural hazards, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 4, 2026 by John Garamendi · Last progress May 4, 2026
Creates a competitive grant program at the Department of Transportation to award up to 10 demonstration grants for projects that make critical transportation infrastructure more resilient to natural hazards. Grants may fund planning, predevelopment, and construction to harden or adapt roads, bridges, transit, ports, toll facilities, levees, and related assets, with a focus on regional partnerships and readiness to proceed. Sets applicant eligibility (states, MPOs, local governments, transit agencies, ports, toll authorities, Tribal governments, and consortia), selection criteria (hazard exposure, transportation system benefits, co-benefits, consistency with a resilience plan, and regional governance/readiness), and allowable uses (predevelopment and capital resilience work). The Secretary of Transportation is directed to run the competitive program and follow the program rules described in the Act.