Summary

Directs the Department of Transportation to recognize and respond to extreme heat as a threat to highways, bridges, and other transportation assets by changing Emergency Relief language, commissioning a national study on heat-related transportation damage, and issuing best-practice guidance for heat resilience. It explicitly updates the types of covered events in federal Emergency Relief law, requires a one-year Transportation Research Board study on measurable costs and tracking methods for heat damage, and tasks DOT with publishing heat-related highway and bridge safety practices within one year.

• Amends the federal Emergency Relief statute to explicitly include heat waves among covered events and adjusts related language.
• Adds language excluding a statutory subsection from applying to bridges whose physical deterioration was substantially caused by extreme heat exposure.
• Requires a Transportation Research Board study (completed within 1 year) to quantify costs of extreme heat on transportation and recommend tracking methods.
• Directs DOT to produce best management practices for highway and bridge safety related to extreme heat within 1 year.
• Study must consult federal, state, industry, and technical stakeholders and report findings to DOT and Congressional committees.
• Focus is on measuring heat-related damage distinct from ordinary wear and on improving federal support and state practices.
• Does not specify new appropriations in the text provided, but implementation may require staffing, contracting, or state/local action to track damage.