Rebuilding Stronger Infrastructure Act

To require the Secretary of Transportation to develop best practices for incorporating resilience into emergency relief projects, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Rebuilding Stronger Infrastructure Act 2. Emergency relief program (a) Definitions In this Act: (1) Emergency relief project The term emergency relief project (2) Resilience (A) In general The term resilience (i) to anticipate, prepare for, or adapt to conditions; or (ii) to withstand, respond to, or recover rapidly from disruptions. (B) Inclusions The term resilience (i) to resist hazards or withstand impacts from disruptions; (ii) to reduce the magnitude, duration, or impact of a disruption; or (iii) to have the absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, and recoverability to decrease vulnerability to a disruption. (3) Secretary The term Secretary (b) Improving the emergency relief program Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— (1) revise the emergency relief manual of the Federal Highway Administration— (A) to include and reflect the definition of the term resilience (B) to identify procedures that States may use to incorporate resilience into emergency relief projects; and (C) to encourage the use of Complete Streets design principles and consideration of access for moderate- and low-income families impacted by a declared disaster; (2) develop best practices for improving the use of resilience in— (A) the emergency relief program under section 125 of title 23, United States Code; and (B) emergency relief efforts; (3) provide to division offices of the Federal Highway Administration and State departments of transportation information on the best practices developed under paragraph (2); and (4) develop and implement a process to track— (A) the consideration of resilience as part of the emergency relief program under section 125 of title 23, United States Code; and (B) the costs of emergency relief projects. (c) Cost limitation Section 125(d) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: (2) Cost limitation The total cost of a project funded under this section may not exceed the cost of repair or reconstruction of a comparable facility unless the Secretary determines that the project incorporates economically justified betterments, including protective features to increase the resilience of the facility. .

Summary: Rebuilding Stronger Infrastructure Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to (1) revise the emergency relief manual of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), including by incorporating resilience into its emergency relief program; (2) develop best practices for improving the use of resilience in the program; (3) provide information on such best practices to the FHWA and states; and (4) develop and implement a process to track the consideration of resilience as part of emergency relief efforts and the costs of emergency relief products. (The emergency relief program provides funds for emergency and permanent repairs on federal-aid highways and roads that have suffered serious damage because of a natural disaster or catastrophic failure from an external cause.) The total cost of a project funded under the emergency relief program may not exceed the cost of repair or reconstruction of a comparable facility unless DOT determines that the project incorporates economically justified betterments, including protective features to increase the resilience of the facility.