Gillibrand renews push for transportation resiliency grants

Jul. 12—WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand is renewing her push to pass the Resilient Transit Act, a bill she said would help protect American infrastructure from the debilitating damage as seen in New York and Vermont this week.

On Wednesday, the senator, D-N.Y., said the damage done to the rail lines, bridges and roads by the flash flooding in the mid-Hudson Valley is a stark reminder of how underprepared most infrastructure is to extreme weather conditions. Rail lines that carry thousands of passengers a day were severed until Wednesday morning, roads were entirely washed away and bridges were damaged or destroyed by the rushing waters they passed over.

The town of Long Lake, in the central Adirondacks, is upended by flooding and has declared a state of emergency. Major routes through town remain impassable as sections of road have crumbled and bridges have been inundated.

"This flooding has been so devastating for people across our state, and at the same time it is also jeopardizing the roads, bridges and transit systems that so many of our New York residents rely on," Gillibrand said. "The systems are becoming more and more susceptible to the effects of flooding, extreme heat, tropical storms and hurricanes. More than 10 years since Superstorm Sandy, our transit systems are still under-equipped to address the growing threat of climate change."

Under her proposed bill, $3 million per year from 2024 to 2027 would be made available for formulaic grants meant to help local governments and transit companies protect their transportation infrastructure, everything from subway platforms, bus shelters and ferries to roads, bridges and tunnels.

The senator has already secured the inclusion of the Resilient Highways Act in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year. That bill allowed the states to use federal highway funding to address resiliency specifically for highways.

Additionally, the Gillibrand said applications may now be submitted for another resiliency program included in the infrastructure law, the PROTECT program, which provides federal money to protect transportation infrastructure from extreme weather.

"I stand ready to help local governments and public transit agencies impacted by these recent storms to apply for the over $800 million in funds currently available under that program," Gillibrand said.

The senator had initially introduced the Resilient Transit Act in 2022 with Rep. Adriano J. Espaillat, D-Bronx, but the bill did not advance in either the House or Senate that year.

The congressional record did not have details on the 2023 version of the bill as of Wednesday.