On Friday, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the allocation of $2 billion for its Public Transportation Emergency Relief program to help protect, repair and replace public transit equipment and facilities that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The FTA Emergency Relief program was created in 2012 under the surface transportation reauthorization (MAP-21), but was not funded under the previous fiscal 2013 continuing resolution (HJR 117). The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 provided $10.9 billion for the program for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy and also required that FTA publish interim regulations. In addition to allocating funds, FTA also on Friday published an interim final rule for the Emergency Relief Program. The interim final rule includes a description of eligible projects, the criteria FTA will use to select projects for funding and additional details on how FTA will administer the program. Comments on the interim final rule are due by May 28, 2013. 

Link(s): Allocation Notice; Interim Final Rule