II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1909 

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

and bridges are more resilient, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2019 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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 of 2019’’. 

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; and 

23 ‘‘(O) any other features that mitigate the 

24 risk of recurring damage or the cost of future 

25 repair as a result of extreme weather, flooding, 


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1 and other natural disasters, as determined by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(3) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this sub4 section limits the ability of a State to carry out a 

5 project otherwise eligible under subsection (d) using 

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

7 SEC. 3. FEDERAL SHARE PAYABLE. 

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

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(4) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

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

12 other provision of law, the Federal share pay13 able for the cost of a protective feature on a 

14 Federal-aid highway or bridge project under 

15 this title may be up to 100 percent, at the dis16 cretion of the State, if the protective feature is 

17 an economically justified improvement to miti18 gate the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

19 future repair from extreme weather, flooding, 

20 and other natural disasters. 

21 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIVE FEATURES DE22 SCRIBED.—A protective feature referred to in 

23 subparagraph (A) may include— 

24 ‘‘(i) raising roadway grades; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) relocating roadways in a flood2 plain to higher ground above projected 

3 flood elevation levels or away from slide 

4 prone areas; 

5 ‘‘(iii) stabilizing slide areas; 

6 ‘‘(iv) stabilizing slopes; 

7 ‘‘(v) installing riprap; 

8 ‘‘(vi) lengthening or raising bridges to 

9 increase waterway openings; 

10 ‘‘(vii) deepening channels to prevent 

11 flooding; 

12 ‘‘(viii) increasing the size or number 

13 of drainage structures; 

14 ‘‘(ix) replacing culverts with bridges 

15 or upsizing culverts; 

16 ‘‘(x) repairing or maintaining tide 

17 gates; 

18 ‘‘(xi) installing seismic retrofits on 

19 bridges; 

20 ‘‘(xii) adding scour protection at 

21 bridges; 

22 ‘‘(xiii) adding spur dikes; 

23 ‘‘(xiv) the use of natural infrastruc24 ture to mitigate the risk of recurring dam25 age or the cost of future repair from exVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1909.IS S1909

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1 treme weather, flooding, and other natural 

2 disasters; and 

3 ‘‘(xv) any other features that mitigate 

4 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

5 future repair as a result of extreme weath6 er, flooding, and other natural disasters, as 

7 determined by the Secretary.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY RELIEF. 

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

10 amended— 

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

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

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

14 following: 

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

16 this section shall not be used for the repair or reconstruc17 tion of a bridge that has been permanently closed to all 

18 vehicular traffic by the State or responsible local official 

19 because of imminent danger of collapse due to a structural 

20 deficiency or physical deterioration.’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (d)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

23 (i) by striking the period at the end 

24 and inserting ‘‘; and’’ 


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

2 the current’’ and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘a facility that— 

4 ‘‘(i) meets the current’’; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(ii) incorporates economically justifi8 able improvements designed to mitigate the 

9 risk of recurring damage from extreme 

10 weather, flooding, and other natural disas11 ters.’’; 

12 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

13 through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), re14 spectively; and 

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

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(3) PROTECTIVE FEATURES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The cost of an im19 provement that is part of a project under this 

20 section shall be an eligible expense under this 

21 section if the improvement is a protective fea22 ture that is economically justified to mitigate 

23 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of fu24 ture repair from extreme weather, flooding, and 

25 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; and 

7 ‘‘(xv) any other features that mitigate 

8 the risk of recurring damage or the cost of 

9 future repair as a result of extreme weath10 er, flooding, and other natural disasters, as 

11 determined by the Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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