II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1709 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program 

to improve evacuation routes in rural communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2019 

Mr. JONES (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

grant program to improve evacuation routes in rural 

communities, 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 ‘‘Bolstering Emergency 

5 routes to Save Americans From Extreme weather Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘BE SAFE Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. EVACUATION ROUTE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab9 lish a competitive grant program that would improve 


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1 emergency evacuation routes in small and rural commu2 nities through— 

3 (1) the construction of State and local con4 nector roads that facilitate access to broader thor5 oughfares, such as Federal highways; and 

6 (2) the improvement or expansion of existing 

7 roads and bridges where traffic congestion is a con8 cern for the safe and efficient evacuation of small 

9 communities and rural counties in the event of ex10 treme weather events, such as hurricanes, wildfires, 

11 and flooding. 

12 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

13 of Transportation, acting through the Administrator of 

14 the Federal Highway Administration (referred to in this 

15 Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall establish a competitive 

16 grant program in accordance with this section to provide 

17 grants to eligible entities described in subsection (c) for 

18 transportation infrastructure projects in rural counties 

19 that connect small communities to broader thoroughfares 

20 and evacuation routes that are essential for supporting 

21 mass evacuations caused by emergency weather events. 

22 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may award 

23 a grant under this section to any of the following entities: 

24 (1) A State. 


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1 (2) A regional planning organization or eco2 nomic development authority. 

3 (3) A unit of local government. 

4 (4) A political subdivision of a State or unit of 

5 local government. 

6 (5) A special purpose district or public author7 ity with a transportation function, including a port 

8 authority or airport. 

9 (6) A Federal land management agency that 

10 applies for the grant jointly with a State or group 

11 of States. 

12 (7) A Tribal government or a consortium of 

13 Tribal governments. 

14 (d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may award 

15 a grant under this section for a project— 

16 (1) in an area that is— 

17 (A) within a city or county with a popu18 lation of less than 200,000 individuals; and 

19 (B) frequently impacted by extreme weath20 er events and related hazards, as designated by 

21 the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

22 Management Agency; and 

23 (2)(A) to build new connector roads; 

24 (B) to improve or expand existing roads that 

25 are inadequate for efficient evacuation; 


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1 (C) to expand 2-lane bridges that require ex2 pansion for efficient evacuation; 

3 (D) to extend existing highways to connect to 

4 the Interstate System (as defined in section 101(a) 

5 of title 23, United States Code), more directly; or 

6 (E) to connect State and local roads and high7 ways to evacuation routes in adjacent States. 

8 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary may award 

9 a grant under this section in an amount that is not greater 

10 than $100,000,000. 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

13 sums as are necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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