§178 Environmental Review Implementation Funds

Summary

Provides $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 to the Federal Highway Administration, available until September 30, 2026, to help make and review environmental documents for surface transportation projects. The money can pay for FHWA guidance, technical help, templates, training, tools, and related FHWA costs. It can also fund eligible state and local groups to build capacity and to help with tasks like setting study scope, finding impacts and mitigation and reasonable alternatives, preparing planning and environmental studies and other documents before and during the review, doing public outreach, handling permits or other activities to finish reviews on time, and the groups’ administrative costs. The federal share cannot be more than 80 percent; the rest can come from other federal, state, or local grant funds. Administrator means the head of the Federal Highway Administration. Eligible entity includes States, local governments and subdivisions, U.S. territories, certain entities under sections 207(m)(1)(E) and 203, and metropolitan planning organizations. Environmental review process and proposed project are defined by the referenced statute (section 139(a)(5)).