II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2951 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a grant program 

for projects to strengthen and protect vulnerable infrastructure used 

during mass evacuations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2018 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a 

grant program for projects to strengthen and protect 

vulnerable infrastructure used during mass evacuations, 

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 ‘‘Enhancing the 

5 Strength and Capacity of America’s Primary Evacuation 

6 Routes Act’’ or the ‘‘ESCAPE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. EVACUATION ROUTE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) EVACUATION ROUTE.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘evacuation 

3 route’’ means a route that— 

4 (i) is owned, operated, or maintained 

5 by a Federal, State, or local government or 

6 a private entity; 

7 (ii) is used— 

8 (I) to transport the public away 

9 from emergency events (as defined in 

10 section 667.3 of title 23, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations (or successor regula12 tions)); or 

13 (II) to transport emergency re14 sponders and recovery resources; and 

15 (iii) is designated by the State in 

16 which the route is located for the purposes 

17 described in clause (ii). 

18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘evacuation 

19 route’’ includes an eligible project under sub20 section (d). 

21 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

22 the competitive grant program established under 

23 subsection (b)(1). 

24 (3) RESILIENCE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘resil25 ience project’’ means a project— 


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1 (A) with the ability to anticipate, prepare 

2 for, and adapt to changing conditions and with3 stand, respond to, and recover rapidly from dis4 ruptions; and 

5 (B) designed and built to address current 

6 and future vulnerabilities to an evacuation 

7 route due to— 

8 (i) future occurrence or recurrence of 

9 emergency events (as defined in section 

10 667.3 of title 23, Code of Federal Regula11 tions (or successor regulations)) that are 

12 likely to occur in the geographic area in 

13 which the evacuation route is located; or 

14 (ii) projected changes in development 

15 patterns, demographics, or extreme weath16 er events based on the best available evi17 dence and analysis. 

18 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Transportation. 

20 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary (in consulta22 tion with the Administrator of the Federal Emer23 gency Management Agency for the purposes de24 scribed in paragraph (3)) shall establish a competi25 tive grant program to provide grants for resilience 


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1 projects that strengthen and protect evacuation 

2 routes that are essential for providing and sup3 porting mass evacuations caused by emergency 

4 events (as defined in section 667.3 of title 23, Code 

5 of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)). 

6 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A grant awarded under 

7 the program shall address— 

8 (A) current and future vulnerabilities to an 

9 evacuation route due to future occurrence or re10 currence of emergency events (as defined in sec11 tion 667.3 of title 23, Code of Federal Regula12 tions (or successor regulations)) that are likely 

13 to occur in the geographic area in which the 

14 evacuation route is located; and 

15 (B) projected changes in development pat16 terns, demographics, or climate change and ex17 treme weather events based on the best avail18 able evidence and analysis. 

19 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro20 gram, the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

21 Management Agency shall consult with the Secretary 

22 to provide technical assistance to the Secretary and 

23 to applicants. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBLE RESILIENCE PROJECTS.—The Sec2 retary shall provide grants under this section to resilience 

3 projects— 

4 (1) that are eligible projects under subsection 

5 (d); and 

6 (2) that— 

7 (A) ensure the ability of the evacuation 

8 route to provide safe passage during a mass 

9 evacuation and reduce the risk of damage to 

10 evacuation routes as a result of future emer11 gency events (as defined in section 667.3 of 

12 title 23, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc13 cessor regulations)), including— 

14 (i) restoring or replacing existing 

15 mass evacuation routes that are struc16 turally deficient or functionally obsolete; 

17 (ii) protecting, elevating, or relocating 

18 assets that are located in a base floodplain; 

19 (iii) protecting assets vulnerable to 

20 high winds; 

21 (iv) installing mitigation measures 

22 that prevent the intrusion of floodwaters 

23 into transportation systems; 


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1 (v) strengthening systems that remove 

2 rainwater from transportation facilities or 

3 services; or 

4 (vi) other resilience projects that ad5 dress identified vulnerabilities; 

6 (B) if the Secretary determines that exist7 ing evacuation routes are not sufficient to ade8 quately facilitate mass evacuations, expand the 

9 capacity of evacuation routes to swiftly and 

10 safely accommodate mass evacuations, including 

11 installation of— 

12 (i) communications and intelligent 

13 transportation system equipment and in14 frastructure; 

15 (ii) counterflow measures; or 

16 (iii) shoulders; 

17 (C) are for the construction of— 

18 (i) new or redundant evacuation 

19 routes, if the Secretary determines that ex20 isting evacuation routes are not sufficient 

21 to adequately facilitate mass evacuations; 

22 or 

23 (ii) sheltering facilities; or 

24 (D) involve planning and acquisition, in25 cluding— 


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1 (i) mass evacuation planning and 

2 preparation, such as— 

3 (I) coordination with agencies 

4 and departments within the State, 

5 first responders, and other States; 

6 (II) identification of evacuation 

7 routes; 

8 (III) evacuation route education 

9 and awareness campaigns; 

10 (IV) traffic analysis and moni11 toring; or 

12 (V) data sharing; 

13 (ii) acquisition of evacuation route 

14 and traffic incident management equip15 ment and vehicles; 

16 (iii) evacuation route risk assessment; 

17 (iv) development of enhanced mass 

18 evacuation response capabilities; 

19 (v) evacuation route signage; or 

20 (vi) equipment for pedestrian move21 ment. 

22 (d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary may make 

23 a grant under this section only for a project that is— 

24 (1) a project eligible for assistance under title 

25 23, United States Code; 


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1 (2) a public transportation facility or service eli2 gible for assistance under chapter 53 of title 49, 

3 United States Code; 

4 (3) a facility or service for intercity rail pas5 senger transportation (as defined in section 24102 

6 of title 49, United States Code); 

7 (4) a port facility, including a facility that— 

8 (A) connects a port to other modes of 

9 transportation; 

10 (B) improves the efficiency of mass evacu11 ations and disaster relief; or 

12 (C) aids transportation; 

13 (5) a public-use airport (as defined in section 

14 47102 of title 49, United States Code) that is in15 cluded in the national plan of integrated airport sys16 tems developed by the Federal Aviation Administra17 tion under section 47103 of title 49, United States 

18 Code; or 

19 (6) a route owned, operated, or maintained by 

20 the Corps of Engineers. 

21 (e) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may award 

22 a grant under this section to any of the following: 

23 (1) A State. 

24 (2) A metropolitan planning organization that 

25 serves an urbanized area (as defined by the Bureau 


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1 of the Census) with a population of more than 

2 200,000 individuals. 

3 (3) A unit of local government. 

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

5 government. 

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

8 authority. 

9 (6) A Federal land management agency that 

10 applies jointly with a State or group of States. 

11 (7) A Tribal government or a consortium of 

12 Tribal governments. 

13 (8) A multistate or multijurisdictional group of 

14 entities described in paragraphs (1) through (7). 

15 (f) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

16 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

17 Secretary an application in such form, at such time, and 

18 containing such information as the Secretary determines 

19 to be necessary. 

20 (g) CRITERIA.—In selecting resilience projects to re21 ceive grants under the program, the Secretary shall con22 sider— 

23 (1) the cost of the project compared to the risk 

24 of recurring damage and the cost of future repairs, 

25 taking into account current and future emergency 


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1 events (as defined in section 667.3 of title 23, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)) 

3 and extreme weather events, to the maximum extent 

4 practicable; 

5 (2) the extent to which the project reduces the 

6 financial risk to the Federal Government; and 

7 (3) such other criteria as the Secretary deter8 mines to be appropriate. 

9 (h) ADMINISTRATION OF PROJECTS.—Responsibility 

10 for oversight and administration of a project that receives 

11 a grant under this section— 

12 (1) may be transferred within the Department 

13 of Transportation; and 

14 (2) shall be administered in accordance with— 

15 (A) title 23 and title 49, United States 

16 Code, as applicable; 

17 (B) title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

18 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); 

19 (C) the National Environmental Policy Act 

20 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

21 (D) the Uniform Relocation Assistance and 

22 Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 

23 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 

24 (i) FEDERAL COST SHARE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 

2 cost of a project carried out under the program shall 

3 not exceed 80 percent of the total project cost. 

4 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The eligible entity 

5 may use funds provided from other Federal sources 

6 to meet the non-Federal cost share requirement for 

7 a project under the program. 

8 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section for 

10 each fiscal year $1,000,000,000, to remain available until 

11 expended. 

Æ 


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