The BUILD America 250 Act: Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill 

The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee recently advanced the BUILD America 250 Act (H.R. 8870) with overwhelming bipartisan support. The five-year surface transportation bill would reauthorize federal highway, transit, rail, freight, safety, and related transportation programs through fiscal year 2031. The bill includes a variety of notable programs for counties that would be very beneficial. The full summary prepared by CSAC’s federal advocate Paragon Government Relations is available here.  While BUILD Act is a critical first step, action by the full House and any counter proposal by the Senate will still need to occur before a federal surface transportation package can be finalized.

Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG):

The bill would increase STBG’s share of HTF funding and preserve the program’s suballocation structure, which has historically made it one of the most useful and flexible federal transportation programs for counties and other local governments. The measure also would expand STBG eligibility to include improvements to existing transportation facilities that help them better withstand natural disasters and improve resilience, potentially giving counties another tool to advance locally identified resilience projects. 

Bridge Program

The BUILD America 250 Act would continue and significantly expand the bridge-specific formula program created under the IIJA, increasing annual funding from roughly $5.5 billion to $9 billion. For counties, this represents one of the most important provisions in the bill, given that local governments own and maintain a substantial share of the nation’s bridges.

The Act includes several provisions intended to direct a larger share of bridge funding to County infrastructure. Most notably, it would increase the existing off-system bridge set-aside from 15 percent to 20 percent. Off-system bridges are located on public roads that are not part of the federal-aid highway system, and many are owned and maintained by counties as well as  cities, and other local entities. In awarding grants, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) would consider factors such as passenger and freight traffic, safety benefits, national or regional economic benefits, geographic diversity, and whether a bridge is in poor condition or at risk of falling into poor condition. 

Emergency Relief and Disaster Resilience

The legislation would make several important changes to the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief (FHWA-ER) program, which provides federal assistance for repairing disaster damaged roads and bridges that are part of the federal-aid highway system. FHWA-ER generally covers eligible repairs on those routes, while FEMA’s Public Assistance program typically supports repairs to locally owned roads and bridges that are not on the federal-aid system. Most notably, the bill would extend the deadline for obligating construction funds from two to four fiscal years following a disaster. 

Under current regulations, ER projects generally must advance to the construction obligation stage by the end of the second fiscal year after the disaster occurs, although states may request extensions under certain circumstances. In practice, that timeline can be difficult for counties to meet, particularly when projects require complex engineering work, environmental review, permitting, right-of-way acquisition, or coordination with other agencies. 

Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant Program

The legislation would establish a new discretionary grant program to support surface transportation projects in local, regional, rural, and urban communities. The bill would authorize $2.4 billion per year from the HTF for the Surface Transportation Grant (STAG) program. Several existing grant programs, including the BUILD program, would be consolidated into the new STAG structure. 

Pursuant to the legislation, 25 percent of funding would be reserved for rural projects, 25 percent for urban projects, and 50 percent for local and regional projects. The rural component would support projects in communities with populations of 50,000 or less. It also would include targeted set-asides for states with above-average rural roadway lane departure fatalities, projects that support the movement of agricultural products, and projects in small communities with populations of 5,000 or less. Rural grants would generally be at least $5 million, though the Secretary of Transportation could use up to 10 percent of available rural funding for smaller awards. The urban component would support surface transportation projects in areas with populations of at least 50,000. Like the rural component, urban grants would generally be at least $5 million, with limited flexibility for smaller awards. 

Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects Program (INFRA Grants)

The BUILD America 250 Act would reauthorize the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight and Highway Projects program, commonly known as INFRA, at $1.2 billion per year. The INFRA program supports large-scale freight and highway projects that have national or regional significance. While the bill would authorize continued funding for the program, the actual amount available each year would remain subject to the annual appropriations process. 

Under the bill, eligibility would be expanded to include metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) serving urbanized areas with populations of at least 50,000, potentially giving more regional entities a direct pathway to compete for funding. 

Federal Lands Transportation Programs

The BUILD America 250 Act would provide $1.63 billion over five years for the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP), which helps fund transportation projects that improve access to national forests, parks, and other federally managed lands. The program is especially important for public lands counties, which often own and maintain roads, bridges, and other infrastructure used by residents, visitors, and businesses traveling to and from federal lands. The bill also would expand eligible uses of FLAP funding to include projects that improve access for individuals with disabilities and strengthen the resilience of transportation facilities serving federal lands. 

Safe Streets and Roads for All The BUILD America 250 Act would reauthorize the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program, which helps local and regional entities develop roadway safety plans and implement projects aimed at reducing crashes, serious injuries, and fatalities. The bill would provide $500 million for the program in fiscal year 2027, with funding gradually increasing to $1 billion by fiscal year 2031. While those amounts are below the funding levels provided under the IIJA, the program’s continuation would preserve an important source of federal support for locally driven safety improvements. 

The continuation of the SS4A program is significant for counties because it is specifically designed for local and regional applicants. State departments of transportation are not eligible to apply directly, leaving counties, cities, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other regional entities as the program’s primary applicants. 

Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program 

The legislation would retain the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient,  and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) discretionary grant program, which supports projects that strengthen transportation infrastructure against natural hazards and other disaster-related risks. However, it would eliminate the PROTECT formula program, which currently provides dedicated resilience funding directly to states. It should be noted that the bill would preserve some resilience-related eligibilities by adding them to other programs, including the STBG program. 

Recreational Trails and E-Bikes

The measure would amend the Recreational Trails Program so that electric bicycles are no longer treated as motorized vehicles by default. This would generally allow e-bikes on nonmotorized recreational trails while preserving the authority of state and local governments to restrict or prohibit their use on individual trails. 

Emergency Relief Working Group

The legislation would direct USDOT to convene a working group to develop recommendations for improving emergency-relief efforts following natural disasters and assessing vulnerabilities in surface transportation infrastructure.