Washington Report – June 2, 2025

Latest News

U.S. DOT Releasing $1.5B in Disaster Relief

The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has announced that approximately $1.5B will be provided to help states and U.S. territories accelerate repairs to infrastructure including roads, bridges damaged by natural disasters, including more than $683M towards damage caused by Hurricane Helene;
Funding was made available through the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief (ER) program;
To view a listing of the FY25 ER program allocations, click on ER Program Recent Allocations.

House Committee Seeking Comments on Draft FEMA Bill

Reminder that the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) are seeking comments on a draft discussion bill, the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans (FEMA) Act of 2025;
The representatives are seeking input on the draft bill which would call for the following changes to FEMA:
- Move FEMA to a stand-alone Cabinet-level agency codifying FEMA’s role as the nation’s lead agency on federal government disaster response
- Streamline the grant disbursement process by completing a single application when applying for assistance reducing paperwork
- Preapproval for mitigation projects through a peer-review process to speed up funding disbursement following disasters
- Create a Recovery Task Force charged with closing out disaster declarations dating back to Hurricane Katrina
- Instructs FEMA to improve coordination across all federal agencies involved in disaster recovery
- Calls for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish a centralized public website that tracks disaster assistance funding across the federal government
This is an excellent opportunity for public works professionals to provide comments and offer your valuable perspective;
While there is no deadline from the committee to offer feedback, if you wish to comment, send them to Marty Williams, Government Affairs Manager at mwilliams@apwa.org before June 9, or you may send them directly to Jimmy Ballard, Director of Coalitions with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at Jimmy.Ballard@mail.house.gov.

FEMA Releases New Emergency Operations Plans Guide

FEMA has released a Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans – Comprehensive Preparedness Guide;
This guide identifies lessons learned and successful practices from real-world events and exercises that can be implemented in the planning process, including:
- Conducting community-based planning to engage the whole community through a planning process that represents the actual population in the community and involves community leaders as well as the private sector
- Integrating and coordinating efforts across all levels of government, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations.

NOAA Announces 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released its forecast for the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30;
NOAA is predicting a 30% chance of a near-normal season, a 60% chance of an above-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season
- This includes a range of 13- to 19-total named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher;
- Of those storms, 6-10 are predicted to become hurricanes with wind of 74 mph or higher;
- 3-5 of the storms are projected to be major hurricanes, falling in the category 3, 4 or 5, with wind of 111 mph or higher.

APWA Submits Comments on the definitions of “Waters of the US”

APWA was invited to participate in a special regulatory process that provided an opportunity to contribute additional comments on the definition of Waters of the United States.
APWA’s comments, along with those of other association partners, will inform EPA’s forthcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

Safe Streets for All Grant NOFO Closes June 26

Recently the U.S. Dept. of Transportation announced the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) is open for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) competitive grant program;
This cycle, there are changes to the NOFO so be sure to review closely when preparing an application;
SS4A grants funds may be used “…to support planning, infrastructural, behavioral, and operational initiatives to prevent death and serious injury on roads and streets involving all roadway users, including pedestrians; bicyclists; public transportation, personal conveyance, and micromobility users; motorists; and commercial vehicle operators”;
Eligible entities include metropolitan planning organizations, state, local and tribal governments, and a multijurisdictional group of the above- mentioned entities.

On The Horizon

(All times ET)

June 4 at 10 a.m., the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review the President’s FY26 budget request for the Department of Commerce;
June 4 at 10:15 a.m., the House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing, ‘Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Education’ with U.S Secretary of Education Linda McMahon;
June 4 at 10:30 a.m., the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee will hold a hearing, ‘AI in the Everyday-Current Applications and Future Frontiers in Communications and Technology‘;
June 5 at 9:30 a.m., the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on nominations, including those for Sean Cairncross to be White House National Cyber Director and Sean Plankey to be director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency;
June 5 at 10:15 a.m., the House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing, ‘Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Labor‘ with U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer.