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Memorandum

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

Subject: ACTION: Incident Management Programs Funding Eligibility Date: Feburary 11, 2002
From: Dwight A. Horne /s/ Dwight A. Home
Director of Program Administration

Jeffrey A. Lindley /s/ Jeffrey A. Lindley
Director, Office of Travel Management
Reply to
Attn. of:
HIPA-10
To:

Division Administrators
Directors of Field Services
Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers
Resource Center Managers

   

Since September 11, 2001, the Offices of Program Administration and Travel Management have received a number of questions regarding potential eligibility of items that could be reasonably considered to be a part of a comprehensive incident management program.

Section 103(b)(6) of Title 23 U.S.C. outlines the eligibility for NHS funding. Paragraph (H) permits NHS funding for "capital and operating costs for traffic monitoring, management and control facilities." Similarly, Section 133(b) outlines eligibility for STP funding. Paragraph (6) permits STP funding for "capital and operating costs for traffic monitoring, management, and control facilities and programs." Further, Sections 103(b)(6) and 133(b) permit funding for "operational improvements." Operational improvements are defined in Section 101(a)(18) of Title 23 to include "incident management programs."

FHWA has traditionally funded a wide range of features relative to incident management programs. This has included safety service patrols to respond to anticipated incidents, traffic monitoring and surveillance systems, variable message signs, etc. We have determined that NHS and STP funding can also be used for other logical components of an established incident management program to be able to respond to incidents that may be more long term in nature. These could be needed as the result of a fire that destroys a bridge, a storm that washes out an embankment, a landslide that closes a road, a hurricane evacuation, etc. Such components could include one or more temporary bridges (e.g., Bailey, Acrow, Maybey), sufficient portable variable message signs to accommodate unexpected detours, and portable traffic management systems to monitor traffic and detect incidents. Other guidance can be found in the January 3, 2000 memorandum that can be accessed at http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/travelinfo/resources/ops_memo.htm.

We would expect these incident management components to be purchased in accordance with established requirements (includingPart 18 of 49 CFR) and be readily available to restore traffic flow after an incident occurs.



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