Policy

Asset Management Plans and Periodic Evaluations of Facilities Repeatedly Requiring Repair and Reconstruction Due to Emergency Events

The FHWA is issuing this final rule to address three new requirements established by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). First, as part of the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP), MAP-21 adopted a requirement for States to develop and implement risk-based asset management plans for the National Highway System (NHS) to improve or preserve the condition of the assets and the performance of the system. Second, for the purpose of carrying out the NHPP, MAP-21 requires FHWA to establish minimum standards for States to use in developing and operating bridge and pavement management systems. Third, to conserve Federal resources and protect public safety, MAP-21 mandates periodic evaluations to determine if reasonable alternatives exist to roads, highways, or bridges that repeatedly require repair and reconstruction activities. This rule establishes requirements applicable to States in each of these areas. The rule also reflects the passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which added provisions on critical infrastructure to the asset management portion of the NHPP statute.

Link to the Federal Register

National Performance Management Measures – Assessing Pavement and Bridge Conditions for the National Highway Performance Program

Section 1203 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) declared that performance management will transform the Federal-aid highway program and refocus it on national transportation goals, increase accountability and transparency of the Federal-aid highway program and improve project decision making through performance-based planning and programming. Section 1203 of MAP-21 identifies the national transportation goals and requires the Secretary to promulgate a rule to establish performance measures in specified Federal-aid highway program areas. The FHWA is issuing three separate Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NPRMs) to meet this requirement, and this is the second NPRM.

This NPRM proposes to establish measures for State Departments of Transportation (State DOTs) to use to carry out the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) and to assess the condition of the following: pavements on the National Highway System (NHS) (excluding the Interstate System), bridges on the NHS, and pavements on the Interstate System. The NHPP is a core Federal-aid highway program that provides support for the condition and performance of the NHS and the construction of new facilities on the NHS, and ensures that investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction are directed to support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in a State’s asset management plan for the NHS. This NPRM proposes regulations for the new performance aspects of the NHPP, which address: measures, targets, and reporting. The FHWA intends to make these performance aspects of the NHPP available to the public in a format that is easily understandable and accessible for download.

This second NPRM also includes a discussion of the collective rule making actions FHWA has or intends to take to implement MAP-21 performance-related provisions.

Link to the Federal Register