Sponsors (3)
The bill improves identification and prioritization of vulnerable transportation assets to boost resilience and emergency response, but imposes planning costs, risks reallocating scarce transport funding, and may leave under-resourced regions struggling to implement requirements.
State and local transportation agencies will identify vulnerable roads, bridges, and transit assets so critical routes can be prioritized for protection and rapid recovery.
Local governments and transportation operators will be able to prioritize facilities and routes essential during disasters, improving emergency response, evacuation capability, and public safety.
Communities will get clearer, prioritized project lists that improve chances of securing federal/state resilience funding and reduce service disruptions after disasters.
Metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and State DOTs will face additional planning costs and staff time to perform vulnerability assessments and identify projects.
Prioritizing resilience projects may divert limited transportation funds away from other locally desired projects (e.g., capacity expansion or routine maintenance).
Smaller MPOs or resource-poor states may struggle to meet technical requirements without additional federal support, risking uneven implementation and leaving some regions less protected.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires MPO and statewide transportation plans to identify disaster-vulnerable transportation facilities, prioritize those needing operation during/after disasters, and list projects to maintain them.
Official title: To amend title 23, United States Code, to require an identification of natural disaster vulnerability in certain transportation plans, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 9, 2026 by George Whitesides · Last progress June 9, 2026
Requires metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and State transportation planning to identify transportation facilities vulnerable to frequent natural disasters, prioritize which must remain operational during/after disasters, and list improvement projects needed to maintain that operation. The change amends existing metropolitan and statewide transportation planning rules to add a focused “Natural disaster vulnerability” assessment to long-range planning documents.