Federal Disaster Relief Funds Awarded

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that 40 projects in the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy have been competitively selected to receive a share of $3.59 billion in federal disaster relief funds.

Among the funds awarded, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will receive approximately $35 million to raise a retaining wall and install watertight barriers at MBTA’s Green Line Fenway Portal to reduce flooding; and repair and improve a deteriorated seawall.

The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 provided $10.9 billion for FTA’s Emergency Relief Program for recovery, relief, and resiliency efforts in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. That total was subsequently cut by almost $545 million due to sequestration.

FTA is allocating the remaining $10.4 billion in multiple tiers for response, recovery, and rebuilding; for locally prioritized resiliency projects; and for competitively selected resiliency work. To date, FTA has allocated nearly $9.3 billion of the total funds appropriated—roughly $5.7 billion for initial and ongoing recovery work and $3.6 billion for the larger resilience projects announced yesterday.

Check the list of all funded resilience projects here.

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Press Release, September 23, 2014