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Q & A: #1109-3
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Question 1109-3: Does the TEA-21 language which states that "not to exceed $25 million shall be available only for the seismic retrofit of bridges" mean that $25 million must be used? What happens if the requests are for only $20 million? Could the remaining $5 million then be used for non-seismic discretionary projects, or would you have to carry the $5 million over to the next fiscal year in hopes of more seismic-only requests?

Answer: The wording in Section 1109(b) of TEA-21 sets a maximum amount of $25 million of discretionary bridge funds for each fiscal year that is to be available only for the seismic retrofit of bridges. In any given fiscal year if all of the eligible seismic retrofit requests received do not total $25 million, less than $25 million may be allocated. In this case, the balance of the available $100 million in discretionary funds would be used to fund other eligible, non-seismic bridge discretionary projects. [August 4, 1998]


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