Washington Report – March 18, 2024

Due to the Congressional recess, the APWA Washington Report will be on hiatus for two weeks and we will return on April 8. Follow APWA Government Affairs on X and LinkedIn.

President’s FY 2025 Budget Proposal Released

While President Biden’s $7.3T proposed budget for FY2025 serves more as a political message during this election year, its funding proposals shed light on the administration’s priorities;
APWA public policy priorities related highlights include:
- $11B for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- EPA’s Clean Water and Drinking Water state revolving funds proposed $2.4B
- $170M towards the “PFAS Strategic Roadmap”
- The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program $80M
- $7.2B to the Army Corps of Engineers
- $1B for permitting, with funding split among agencies
- $70M for the Strengthening Community College training program through the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
- $62B for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including
  - $33B for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  - $3B for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
- $109B for the Dept. of Transportation (DOT) with
  - $78.4B for highway, highway safety and transit programs aligning with the fourth year of implementation for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
  - $1.3B for the National Highway Safety Admin. (NHTSA) to continue its primary focus of reducing traffic fatalities and injuries.

FEMA Seeking Disaster Operation Information Collection Comments

FEMA is seeking feedback on how to better collect information from grant applicants on How to Process Mission Assignments in Federal Disaster Operations;
Specifically, FEMA wants input related to minimizing the burden of information collection and whether the proposed data collection is necessary for the proper performance of states, territories, or tribal agencies;
The deadline to submit comments is April 29. Use the Federal eRulemaking Portal and include the docket ID: FEMA-2024-0009.

FEMA Continues NFIP Reinsurance Process

FEMA obtained reinsurance coverage for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through Insurance-Linked Securities for a seventh time
- This is a three-year agreement
FEMA will pay $85.7M in premiums, excluding initial expenses, for the first year of reinsurance coverage;
FEMA has transferred $1.92B of NFIP’s flood risk to the private sector ahead of the 2024 hurricane season.

HSIP Notice of Proposed Rulemaking—Comments due by April 22

The Federal Highway Admin. (FHWA) has announced a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to address provisions included in IIJA to update priorities and practices;
FHWA wants to incorporate the Safe Systems Approach, clarify the scope of HSIP in improving road safety for all road users on the full public roadway network, and collect Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE) data;
All comments are due April 22.

Maritime Admin. Announces Port Development Grants—Due May 10

A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) released by DOT’s Maritime Admin. is now open and is expected to have up to $450M in competitive grant funding available for FY24;
Eligible entities include local governments, public agencies, tribes, and multijurisdictional groups, with applications due May 10;
Projects within or outside a port’s boundary and related to port operations are eligible.

FHWA NPRM on Ending Buy America Waivers—Comments due May 13

The Federal Highway Admin. (FHWA) has released a notice of proposed rulemaking to end Buy America requirements for manufactured products and would, therefore, require federal funding recipients to begin applying Buy America requirements to manufactured products;
By statute, FHWA is required to ensure all FHWA funding projects use only steel, iron, and manufactured products produced in the U.S.;
IIJA expands coverage and application of Buy America requirements tied to federal funding;
Comments due May 13.

On the Horizon

All times ET.

March 21 at 10 a.m., the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Highways and Transit Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Policies and Programs Impacting Rural Infrastructure;
March 27 at 11 a.m., FEMA will host a webinar on how to plan for data collection and analysis for real-world incident after-action reviews. Attendees will learn how to plan incident after-action reviews as outlined in FEMA’s National Continuous Improvement Guidance;
Each Thursday during April, at 1 p.m., FEMA will host Resilient Nation Partnership Network (RNPN) 2024 virtual panel discussions with filmmakers and community leaders about resilience challenges and advancing action to address natural hazard resilience.