FHWA ER & ERFO

OVERVIEW AND FAQS

Lorell Duteil

ERFO Coordinator 

Central Federal Lands Highway Division (FHWA)

OTT Webinar

May 6, 2020
WHAT ARE THE ER & ERFO PROGRA

U.S.C. Title 23 programs administered by FHWA• (23 U.S.C., § 101, 120, and 125) CFR, Part 668 – Emerge

Program• Subpart A - Procedures for Federal-Aid Highways (ER)• Subpart B – Procedures for Federal Agencies for Federal Roads (

• Pays to repair seriously damaged transportation 
ER & ERFO PROGRAM INTENT

To pay the unusually heavy expenses to repair serious 

eligible facilities caused by natural disaster or catastro

• Not heavy maintenance• Not routine emergency repair activities • Not repair of facilities affected by long term, pr

conditions, or predictable developing situations

• Not a preventative program• Not an improvement program
FHWA EMERGENCY RELIEF 

PROGRAM APPLICANTS

• ER 

• States apply to Federal-aid Division Offices • Counties & Cities are sub-applicant to the State

• ERFO 

• Federal Agencies (including BIA) apply to FLH Divisio• Tribes are a sub-applicant to BIA
• ER 

• Presidential or Governor’s disaster declaration with t

FHWA concurrence

• Federal Share ~80%

• ERFO 

• Federal Lands Highway Division Director approval• Federal Share 100%

FHWA EMERGENCY RELIEF 

PROGRAM APPROVAL
FHWA EMERGENCY RELIEF 

PROGRAM ELIGIBLE FACILITIES

• ER 

• Federal-aid Highways 

• Arterials

• Urban Collectors• Major Rural Collectors

• ERFO 

• Tribal Transportation Facilities on TTP Inventory (NTTFI)• Federal Lands Transportation Facilities on the FLTP Inven

• NPS, FS, FWS, BLM, COE, BOR

• Other Federally Owned Roads• Eligible Facility types include: Roads, Trails, Parking areas, & T
Natural Catastrophic

DISASTER TYPES

• FHWA requires a disaster to have occurred be

funding can be made available

• Two Types of disasters:
ERFO & ER ELIGIBLE DISASTERS

Natural Disasters must:• Be Unusual natural occurrence which causes 

serious damage • Floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, sever

storms, landslides

• And Occurs over a wide area

• Several counties, federal land 

units, or major drainages

• And Over $700,000 of damage
ERFO & ER ELIGIBLE DISASTERS

Catastrophic Disasters must:• Be Sudden failure of a major element or segmen

eligible facility from an external cause

• And Failure is not primarily attributable to progressiv

deterioration or lack of maintenance

• And Over $700,000 of damage
ERFO ELIGIBLE FACILITIES

Facilities must be:• Open to Public• On official Inventory• Actively maintained• Roads accommodate standard 

passenger vehicles
ER & ERFO DAMAGE ELIGIBILITY

• Disaster related damage only• Only ‘Serious Damage’ is eligible• Repairs must exceed $5,000 per site• Not maintenance or routine repair activities • Covers Emergency & Permanent repairs
DAMAGE DOCUMENTATION

• DDIR or DSR report completed for each site• Report includes site data, location, damage pict

sketches, cost estimate, calculations 

• Includes emergency and permanent repairs
ERFO & ER KEY POLICIES

• Least cost, repair in-kind programs• Funds can only be used on approved sites• Funding is based on documented actual costs • Reimbursement program, however when fund

available it may provide upfront funds
BEEN THERE, FIXED THAT. FHWA CAN HELP FIX YO
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?

• Program information

• ERFO https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/erfo/

• ER https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/erelief.cfm

• ERFO Coordinators:

EFLHD – Eric Wright (571) 434-1547CFLHD – Lorell Duteil (720) 963-3425WFLHD – Steve Hinz (360) 619-7532
OTHER DISASTER RELIEF FOR 

TRANSPORTATION

FEMA - Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and EmAssistance Act (42 U.S.C.) Public Assistance Gran

• Provides federal technical and financial assistance to states, tribes• Applicants must respond to disaster/ emergency using plan & the 

exceed applicant’s capability before requesting declaration

• Covers Public, Tribal, & Non-profit Infrastructure including transp• Presidential declaration required• Emergency measures & Permanent Repairs • Federal Share ~75%• Tribes pursue ERFO for transportation damages prior to FEMA
FEMA PUBLIC ASSISTANCE GRAN

PROGRAM

• Tribes should pursue ERFO for transportation damages prior t• FEMA has similar yet different eligibility so some items not elig

may be FEMA eligible

• FEMA has some pre-event planning requirements so important 

relationship prior to disaster

• For more information, FEMA Tribal contacts can be found at 

https://www.fema.gov/tribal-contacts

• All the disaster relief programs have time limitations s

and apply as soon as possible following an incident
Disasters Happen, Be Prepared! QUESTIONS