I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5700 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to ensure that Federal-aid highways 

and bridges are more resilient, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2020 

Mr. KIM (for himself, Ms. FINKENAUER, Mr. ROUZER, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 23, United States Code, to ensure that Federal-aid highways and bridges are more resilient, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resilient Highways 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL HIGHWAY PERFORMANCE PROGRAM. 

7 Section 119 of title 23, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) to provide support for measures to in7 crease the resiliency of Federal-aid highways and 

8 bridges on and off the National Highway System to 

9 mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and extreme 

10 weather events.’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(k) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may use not more 

14 than 15 percent of the funds apportioned to the 

15 State under section 104(b)(1) for each fiscal year 

16 for a protective feature on a Federal-aid highway or 

17 bridge, if the protective feature is an economically 

18 justified improvement designed to mitigate the risk 

19 of recurring damage or the cost of future repairs 

20 from extreme weather, flooding, and other natural 

21 disasters. 

22 ‘‘(2) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DESCRIBED.—A 

23 protective feature referred to in paragraph (1) may 

24 include— 

25 ‘‘(A) raising roadway grades; 


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1 ‘‘(B) relocating roadways in a floodplain to 

2 higher ground above projected flood elevation 

3 levels or away from slide prone areas; 

4 ‘‘(C) stabilizing slide areas; 

5 ‘‘(D) stabilizing slopes; 

6 ‘‘(E) installing riprap; 

7 ‘‘(F) lengthening or raising bridges to in8 crease waterway openings; 

9 ‘‘(G) deepening channels to prevent flood10 ing; 

11 ‘‘(H) increasing the size or number of 

12 drainage structures; 

13 ‘‘(I) replacing culverts with bridges or 

14 upsizing culverts; 

15 ‘‘(J) repairing or maintaining tide gates; 

16 ‘‘(K) installing seismic retrofits on bridges; 

17 ‘‘(L) adding scour protection at bridges; 

18 ‘‘(M) adding spur dikes; 

19 ‘‘(N) the use of natural infrastructure to 

20 mitigate the risk of recurring damage or the 

21 cost of future repair from extreme weather, 

22 flooding, and other natural disasters; 

23 ‘‘(O) removing debris from rivers, creeks, 

24 streams, and ditches; and 


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1 ‘‘(P) any other features that mitigate the 

2 risk of recurring damage or the cost of future 

3 repair as a result of extreme weather, flooding, 

4 and other natural disasters, as determined by 

5 the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub7 section limits the ability of a State to carry out a 

8 project otherwise eligible under subsection (d) using 

9 funds apportioned under section 104(b)(1).’’. 

10 SEC. 3. FEDERAL SHARE PAYABLE. 

11 Section 120(c) of title 23, United States Code, is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(4) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

15 other provision of law, the Federal share pay16 able for the cost of a protective feature on a 

17 Federal-aid highway or bridge project under 

18 this title may be up to 100 percent, at the dis19 cretion of the State, if the protective feature is 

20 an economically justified improvement to miti21 gate the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

22 future repair from extreme weather, flooding, 

23 and other natural disasters. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE2 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 

3 subparagraph (A) may include— 

4 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 

5 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a flood6 plain to higher ground above projected 

7 flood elevation levels or away from slide 

8 prone areas; 

9 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 

10 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 

11 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 

12 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 

13 increase waterway openings; 

14 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 

15 flooding; 

16 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 

17 of drainage structures; 

18 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 

19 or upsizing culverts; 

20 ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 

21 gates; 

22 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 

23 bridges; 

24 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 

25 bridges; 


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1 ‘‘(xiii) adding spur dikes; 

2 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc3 ture to mitigate the risk of recurring dam4 age or the cost of future repair from ex5 treme weather, flooding, and other natural 

6 disasters; 

7 ‘‘(xv) removing debris from rivers, 

8 creeks, streams, and ditches; and 

9 ‘‘(xvi) any other features that mitigate 

10 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

11 future repair as a result of extreme weath12 er, flooding, and other natural disasters, as 

13 determined by the Secretary.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY RELIEF. 

15 Section 125 of title 23, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘wildfire, 

18 sea level rise,’’ after ‘‘severe storm’’; 

19 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTION ON ELIGIBILITY.—Funds under 

22 this section shall not be used for the repair or reconstruc23 tion of a bridge that has been permanently closed to all 

24 vehicular traffic by the State or responsible local official 


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1 because of imminent danger of collapse due to a structural 

2 deficiency or physical deterioration.’’; and 

3 (3) in subsection (d)— 

4 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

5 (i) by striking the period at the end 

6 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘a facility that meets 

8 the current’’ and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘a facility that— 

10 ‘‘(i) meets the current’’; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(ii) incorporates economically justifi14 able improvements designed to mitigate the 

15 risk of recurring damage from extreme 

16 weather, flooding, and other natural disas17 ters.’’; 

18 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

19 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re20 spectively; and 

21 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(3) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The cost of an im25 provement that is part of a project under this 


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1 section shall be an eligible expense under this 

2 section if the improvement is a protective fea3 ture that is economically justified to mitigate 

4 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of fu5 ture repair from extreme weather, flooding, and 

6 other natural disasters. 

7 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE8 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 

9 subparagraph (A) may include— 

10 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 

11 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a flood12 plain to higher ground above projected 

13 flood elevation levels or away from slide 

14 prone areas; 

15 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 

16 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 

17 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 

18 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 

19 increase waterway openings; 

20 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 

21 flooding; 

22 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 

23 of drainage structures; 

24 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 

25 or upsizing culverts; 


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1 ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 

2 gates; 

3 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 

4 bridges; 

5 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 

6 bridges; 

7 ‘‘(xiii) adding spur dikes; 

8 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc9 ture to mitigate the risk of recurring dam10 age or the cost of future repair from ex11 treme weather, flooding, and other natural 

12 disasters; 

13 ‘‘(xv) removing debris from rivers, 

14 creeks, streams, and ditches; and 

15 ‘‘(xvi) any other features that mitigate 

16 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

17 future repair as a result of extreme weath18 er, flooding, and other natural disasters, as 

19 determined by the Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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