Emergency Relief (ER) Program
The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Emergency Relief (ER) Program was authorized by Congress to repair or reconstruct federal-aid routes that have suffered serious damage as a direct result of a declared event (see Title 23, United States Code, Section 125). The program is intended to help state and local highway agencies pay for the extraordinary costs incurred by repairing damage to by either natural disasters or catastrophic failures from an external cause.
Eligible facilities are functionally classified as interstates, principal arterials, minor arterials, urban collectors and rural major collectors. See link to Functional Class Viewer at right. This provides a map showing the functional classification of state and local highways in NYS.
For detailed information on the ER program, please refer to Chapter 18 of the Procedures for Locally Administered Federal Aid Projects manual (PLAFAP). This guide for local Sponsors of federal aid projects. See link at right.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ER manual covers procedures applicable to the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Emergency Relief (ER) program for Federal-aid highways. It is a guide for FHWA, State, and local transportation agency personnel for requesting, obtaining and administering ER funds. See link at right.
Damage to highway facilities that are not ER eligible may be eligible for Federal funds authorized by the Stafford Act. This program is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through the State Office of Emergency Management (SOEM). Details of this program are also available in Chapter 18 of the PLAFAP. See link at right.
For information about Hurricane Sandy, please visit SOEM's Recovery 
website.
For more information, email MO-LocalProgramsBureau@dot.ny.gov.
