Dive brief:
- The Federal Highway Administration has not completed the instructions state transportation departments need to administer programs supported by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and other federal funds, according to an audit released Monday by the Office of Inspector General General of the US Department of Transportation.
- Federal regulations generally require that surface transportation projects be included in approved statewide transportation improvement programs, which include all projects scheduled for implementation for at least four years. “The lack of comprehensive guidance may increase the risk that IIJA funding will not achieve the intended benefits and result in increased project costs,” the OIG said.
- The OIG recommended that the FHWA complete the outstanding guidance items and maintain a list of States’ requests for technical assistance in order to fulfill them.
Diving knowledge:
FHWA oversees approximately $350 billion in IIJA funding. The agency provided states with a list of 22 guidance issues by 2022, but as of November 2023 it was still working on four of those issues. According to the OIG, the FHWA’s review and approval of STIPs is designed to help state departments of transportation meet federal requirements, including reliable cost estimates and reasonably available funding.
The OIG audit sampled the state departments of transportation in Texas, Virginia and Washington. An unspecified state said it received guidance from the FHWA after it completed its project delivery plan, which a state transportation official said affected the analysis and allocation of program funds. Another state was awaiting guidance on making funding and project selection recommendations, and the third said its projects could be delayed depending on the highway administration’s final guidance.
In one case, the FHWA took up to five months to satisfy two requests for technical assistance from a state transportation department. “Similar delays in other states may increase the risk of adversely affecting States’ STIP development for IIJA-funded projects, which may be time-sensitive,” the audit says.
The OIG made three recommendations to the FHWA to improve its oversight of STIPs. They include:
- Provide State Departments of Transportation and FHWA Division Offices with all planned IIJA guidance areas and associated completion dates.
- Identify pending technical assistance requests and attend to them.
- Develop and implement a policy requiring FHWA headquarters concurrence when division offices make revisions to their standard operating procedures for reviewing and approving STIPs.
In response to the report, the highway administration agreed with the first recommendation and provided appropriate actions and completion dates, the OIG said. The FHWA partially agreed with the second two recommendations, providing an action plan to respond to pending technical assistance requests, but saying it will only require revisions to the division office’s procedural reviews for major changes.
An FHWA official told the OIG that “the Agency emphasized issuing IIJA guidance that would best assist states in making efficient and effective use of formula funding federal aid highways,” the report states.
