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c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. national transportation safety board chair jennifer -- and other u.s. officials detail the findings of a preliminary report of the causes of the collapse of the francis got key bridge. they also set the goal for completing reconstruction as 2028. a cost of nearly $2 billion. >> we will call the committee to order. i ask unanimous consent that the chairman be authorized to declare recess any time during today's hearing. that is so ordered. as a reminder, members insert a

document in the record please we will call the thcommitte to order and i would ask unanimous consent of the chairman be authorized to declare recess any time during today's hearing without objection. that assorted as a reminder of members documents into the record, please email documents to -- at this point i will recognize myself for the purposes of an opening statement. we are here today to discuss the initial federal response to the march 26th, 2024, early morning incident involving the cargo vessel dolly and the key bridge in baltimore, maryland which resulted in a collapsed bridge. the first would acknowledge the six workers who sadly perished that morning. on behalf of the entire committee i want to express our condolences and offer our prayers to the families of the loved ones. i also want to express the appreciation to the harbor pilot and the maryland transportation authority, police officers who saved countless lives by closing the key bridge prior to the incident and to all the first responders who are obviously

involved in that process. finally i want to commend the federal state and local officials. they were working that night to clear wreckage and debris. and obviously continuing the effort to reopen the shipping channel that supports the ports of baltimore. this committee continues to receive updates from the federal agencies responding to investigating the incident, including those testifying here today. hours after the collapse president biden announced his intention to reconstructing the key bridge. the committee has received a letter from the administration officially requesting that congress authorize 100% federal -- to rebuild the bridge. i have personally spoken to governor more about the request on a couple of occasions. on march 20th the state of maryland applied for funding from the federal highway administration emergency relief program. within hours of

receiving the maryland department of transportation's application the federal highway administration approved $60 million and quick release funding, which said represented roughly 5% or so of the initial total project cost of $1.2 billion. this funding is intended to assist with repair work, which includes emergency repairs needed to restore central travel to minimize damage or protect the remaining facilities as well as permanent repairs necessary to restore the highway to the predisaster condition. under the e.r. program the federal government will reimburse the state qualifying work at 100% federal cost for the first 270 days. after that initial 270 days states get reimbursed at 80% to 90% rate depending on the classification of the program, which the program also provides flexibility to allow for reimbursement up to 90% in some cases. so this past friday, may 10th, the federal highway administration informed the committee that they had

designated a portion of i-695, that includes the bridge as part of the interstate system, effective april 29th. meaning that maryland's reimbursement rate is now going to be guaranteed up to 90%. all of that is to say that while the presidents request has been received it is under consideration. congress still has roughly 6 months to act before any cost share changes might occur. so despite initial estimates of $1.2 billion to rebuild the bridge the media report now indicates the state of maryland estimates the bridge may cost somewhere between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion. so it's important that we have a very firm estimate before we take any further action. in addition, if the company owned and operated the ship is found to be liable we was -- must make sure the government works to recover any money that is owed. that could help offset the bridge funding to use the

people and companies who obviously rely on and work on the baltimore harbor to make them whole. so several members of this committee have visited the site with federal partners. and for those who wish to go up there and see for themselves the committee will continue to facilitate visits on a regular basis. so at this stage we need to make sure we are not getting ahead of the facts and let the ntsb and other agencies completed investigations. but as we continue to learn more we will make sure that members of congress have all of the information that is available to them. and i do want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. and i look forward to the testimony. i did talk to the governor just this morning about the hearing coming up. he's pretty optimistic about the litigation to moving forward. you mentioned that briefly in my opening statement. it sounded very interesting and very promising. with that i will turn to ranking member larsen.

>> thank you, chair graves, for holding this hearing. i want to thank the administration officials for joining us to discuss the francis scott key bridge recovery effort. first, i want to express my sympathies with families of the six transportation workers who lost their lives while on their jobs maintaining this important piece of infrastructure. it's a reminder of why safety always has to be the top priority in transportation. safety of workers, traveling public, and the residents of communities adjacent to that infrastructure. this emergency left in its wake an incredibly complex removal challenge. a closed channel and a shutter report with significant regional economic and shipping the vacations and -- freight movement and roadway mobility in the atlantic region. vice admiral -- i want to commend you, your team, your leadership and the tireless efforts to -- efforts to safely remove debris and return the channel to the operations that

currently exist under extreme and challenging service -- circumstances. it became clear when i visited the site of the collapse last month. i want to thank the coast guard, the court, and state partners on the unified command. especially the state police for guiding many members of congress in our various trips to witness the damage. i look forward to hearing the latest updates from you today on the status of the cleanup and the estimated timeline before we open the channel for port of baltimore operations. also learning what resources -- coast guard lee from congress has the full cost of impacts and response becomes more concrete. they expended the fiscal year operations and we are grateful the coast guard always does what it needs to get the job done. yet it's unreasonable to expect the service to absorb these --

not budgeted for advance that impact the coast guard's ability to form other missions pics of the service must be made whole. certainly, the court in responding the emergency is the physical 2024 operations for the baltimore harbor and channels. if not replenished the government funding will impact plant maintenance for the baltimore harbor once the response is complete. and for future years. these amounts were not, however, sufficient to fund the response packet last week the reprogramming of $20 million in unused funds will continue to channel work. this level of reprogramming is an unprecedented -- and subliminal funds from congress for this cleanup. the budgetary juggling in the courthouse to get the bridge out of the water and off of the vessels, that generally will continue. i urge the coast guard to connecticut with congress -- i'm sure this will finish

uninterrupted and to do so in partnership with the legislative branch. beyond the immediate response i look forward to hearing from the highway administration about the timeline -- the role the federal government is playing and eating that progress. congress has established the emergency relief program in 1950 as part of the federal highway program to provide for the reconstruction of highways and bridges in the event of a disaster. congress has understood that the state cannot be expected to cover the cost of an unforeseen emergency loss of infrastructure out of its annual road budget. that is still true today. maryland transportation officials estimate it will cost up to 1.9 billion to replace the bridge. frankly, there's a lot of estimates out there in this broad range. i would call them estimates at this point, quite frankly. so while u.s. dot has provided 60 million to date we do know that is a fraction of the total need. prior to the collapse of the key bridge carrying 40,000 vehicles a day. traffic diversion has increased across mchenry and harbor totals by 18%.

and truck drivers carry have interest materials 25 miles to get through baltimore the alternate routes that did not expect -- to be going to him. they are working to rebuild this quickly and efficiently, including confirmation last -- night. share from maryland. i want to welcome back committee chair hominy. congratulations on your reconfirmation last night. the ntsb thorough investigation of this catastrophe will help answer questions on how to prevent future collisions. short bridges save lives and protect the critical infrastructure. i look forward to what the chair has to share about this based on the ntsb pulmonary findings which was released yesterday afternoon. thank you to each of our witnesses and i want to think the chair for calling this hearing and i look forward to what you have to say. i yield back. >> by unanimous consent the

witness. ms. be included in the record. without objective that is so worded. i asked that the record of today's hearing remain open until such time that witnesses have provided answers to any questions that may be cemented to them in writing. without objection that is also so ordered. i also asked unanimous consent that the record remain open for 15 days for additional comments and information submitted by members or witnesses to be included in the record of today's hearing. without objection that is so ordered. your written testimony has obviously been included in the records of the committee ask that you try to limit your oral remarks to five minutes. with that, vice admiral you're recognized for five minutes. thank you for being here. >> thank you chairman graves, ranking member larsen. good morning. thank you for your high words about the coast guard. i appreciate the opportunity to testify before the committee. in the early hours of march 26 the container ship dali struck and collapsed the francis keese

got bridge. six people lost their lives and baltimore lost a landmark in the skyline in the region suffered a blockage of a crucial waterway. we continue to honor the memory of those victims. today at the 51 day point, over 6000 tons of steel and concrete have been removed from the wreckage field. axis has been restored to the port of baltimore with more than 35 large commercial vessels sailing through limited access channel and 375 additional commercial and recreational vessels have used temporary access channels. the first of which was established six days after the bridge collapsed. the hazardous materials aboard the vessel dali were stabilized as was the vessel itself. i will report today that unified command believes the dali will be re-floated and removed from the site early next week is what they are looking at. particularly notable, countless complex steps in this operation

have been completed without a single worker injury. these monumental efforts remain possible through the exemplary unity effort of the unified command, rapid mobilization of personnel and resources, strong coordination and trusted partnerships. unified command formed within the first few hours through the national response framework. our national doctrine the response for disasters and emergencies. the coast guard, army corps of engineers, maryland state police, maryland transportation authority, maryland department of the environment, and which represented the owners and operators of the dali have effectively leveraged each other's jurisdictions, authorities and capabilities to get us where we are today. the coast guard is proud to be part of this response. our women and men serve on the front lines in a nation whose economic prosperity and national security are linked to our maritime transportation system. we exercise six of our 11

statutory emissions in this response. from the early hours of search and rescue response, to restoring vessel traffic by sending aids to navigation. the coast guard broad authority to position service to chordate activities to ensure the safety, security and stewardship of our waterways. we are also successful with partnerships and continuously exercise operating and corn and with federal, state, and local industry partners. h one prime example, chairman you mentioned, the fantastic work and the quick nullification by the pilots to the mta dispatch which inevitably save countless numbers of lives. work is not done. th unified command remains sharply focused on the full restoration of the mts. active investigations continue in parallel with the response including the coast guard's an marine board investigation, our highest level of marine casualty investigation to determine the incident causal

factors and support the development of preventative recommendation. our investigation is in cooperation with the ntsb which has taken the lead on the safety investigation and the coast guard investigation is also moving concurrently and separately from the department of justice criminal investigation. while we look forward to the results of these investigations, it is evident and looking more broadly that the size and complexity of no ships has grown over the years placing greater demands on our transportation infrastructure that may not have kept place with the increased risk that these vessels pose. >> it is time for us to broadly understand these risks. as deputy commandant for operations, i will convene a nationwide board of inquiry under title 46 u.s. code led by my assistant rear admiral wayne artman. the purpose is to assess the

efficacy of the coast guard suite of risk management tools, evaluate how recently they have been used in major ports and established a holistic national level approach to develop risk profiles, identify ways to address vulnerabilities and propose actions to reduce the risk of major incidents. this board of inquiries is a necessary step to bolster our nts resiliency and ensure the safe and secure and efficient flow of waterways. the coast guard is ready to lead this effort. thank you for this opportunity and for your support of the coast guard. i look forward to your questions. >> next we have major general graham. thank you for being here you have five minutes. >> chairman graves, ranking member larsen, distinguished members, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you to discuss emergency lo response by the u.s. army corps of engineers to the collapse of

the francis scott key bridge. on behalf of the core, please allow me to begin by offering our heartfelt condolences to the families of the six individuals lost to this tragedy. from the outset we were committed to recovering their loved ones. our thoughts and prayers continue to be within. soon after this tragic event occurred, maryland governor wes moore declared a state of emergency and the baltimore commander activated the districts emergency operations center. our state-of-the-art survey vessels, which usually serve to verify the depth and width of the federal channels were deployed to support the initial search and rescue dive operation. our support evolved as the armored core joint multi agency effort to form a unified command. i have been in tha good many disaster responses over the years and this unified command team led by coast guardcaptain david o'connell was one of the best i have seen. guidance on the president was clear from the beginning, clean the wreckage from the channel was the army course top priority. we needed three things to execute this mission.

authority, current funding, and the right contracting capacity. authority, we use the authority from the baltimore harbor channel project. it authorized the army corps to construct and maintain a 50 foot deep channel. that was not fully blocked by the wreckage of the key bridge. funding. we initially used fy 23 and fy s 24 funding for that baltimore harbor and channel project. additional funds as we discussed earlier by ranking member larsen have been provided through internal emergency reporting actions using aged, unused funding just from harbor maintenance and trust fund projects. the army corps has not used this emergency reprogramming authority at the scale for over 15 years. the third thing we need was contracting capacity. the army corps has a standard agreement with the navy supervisor salvage and diver led by captain sal suarez and dr. paul hankins. they are true world-class

professionals. they had contracting close to give us access to support salvage companies, in this case the contractor they are using is don john marine from newark, new jersey. they turn to them often to leverage their unique expertise. last work with soup sal was 2002 during the hurricane ian responses central florida. maybe soup sal helped us pump the river backwards for a few days saving around 12,000 home south of orlando from flooding. they are true professionals and they know how to deliver ns outstanding results. with these elements replace we determined how to begin clearing the e 50,000 tons of concrete asphalt and steel from the patapsco river. that is over 200 statues of liberty worth of material. after conducting extensive engineering analysis. the army corps in collaboration with partners set an ambitious and feasible timeline, the plan was to clear 35 foot deep

limited access channel by the end of april and restore the full 50 foot navigation channel by the end of may. of certified by the coast guard and limited access channel was opened to one-way vehicle traffic on april 25th, a week ahead of schedule. the channel could support 70% of the court traffic, particularly the car carriers that are important baltimore. to open up the first channel we had to execute the difficult task of removing a section of bridge that collapsed on the bow of the dali. i am delighted to report that on monday of this week the team used demolition to cut the will bridge away from the ship. today operations continue to remove the dali on the southern edge of the federal channel. this will facilitate the removal of the remaining bridge records from the river. we remain on track. we open a fools seven -- 700 foot wide to defeat deep channel by the end of may. this unified team that mentioned earlier safely removed the records from the channel allowing the port of

baltimore to chresume its role a supply chain and vital economic. thank you and i look forward to answering your questions. >> next, administrator you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you chairman graves, ranking member larsen and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to print appear before a. the collapse of the francis scott key bridge on march 26th with was a tragic event for baltimore , maryland and the entire nation. while the bridge collapse was shocking we must not lose the impact that this had on the victims and the families. the six victims were fathers, and husbands and friends in their communities and value members of the construction workforce. we will always mourn these individuals who lost their lives while working to strengthen our transportation system. i also want to thank the emergency responders who acted quickly to save lives. i have

had the opportunity to visit the site of the bridge collapse. while i have been engaged in a number bridge incidents during my career i've never seen anything at this scale. it is a monumental task to clean up the site and rebuild. as i appear before the committee today, i have a great feeling of optimism witnessing industry and government entities to work together at times of calamity as they have done in the weeks since the bridge collapse. immediately following this catastrophic event, the federal highway administration mobilized internally across multiple offices and externally with local, state and federal partners to support the response. president biden has been clear in the administration's commitment to reconstruct the bridge, undersecretary buttigieg is leadership. they are actively correlating with other administrations and offices within the united states department of transportation, the maryland department transportation that includes the maryland transportation authority, state highway, city of baltimore,

u.s. coast guard, u.s. army corps of engineers and others to mitigate supply-chain impacts and traffic and reopen the port and reconstruct the bridge. fhwa is actively supporting the national transportation safety board investigation of the collapse. fhwa has been in direct medication with m.d.o.t. , maryland d.o.t., regarding all construction for the bridge and is committed to supporting these efforts so that the bridge can be reconstructed as quickly and safely as possible. it is critical that we reconstruct this connection for people and goods traveling along the east coast. ensuring that the i-65 corridor is open, operational and safe for the traveling public at the earliest possible moment is a top priority. on march 20th, within hours of receiving the request for funding assistance from maryland d.o.t., fhwa announced the immediate availability of $60 million in quick relief

that's my quick release emergency relief funds. this was used as a down payment towards additional cost and additional program funding will be made available as work continues. the eye ministration is asking congress to join and demonstrate a commitment to aid in recovery efforts by authorizing a 100% federal costs for rebuilding the bridge consistent with past catastrophic bridge collapses. fhwa continues to provide wide- ranging technical assistance to maryland d.o.t. regarding contract procurement for debris removal, procurement for reconstruction operations ll and project delivery strategies to reconstruct the bridge quickly and safely. fhwa also is working with maryland d.o.t. to ensure that the new bridge will be billed to current design standards and in accordance with all applicable federal laws. on march 26, 2024, the day of the collapse, fhwa met with the national interpretation liaison

from the u.s. army corps of engineers, u.s. coast guard, u.s. fish and wildlife service, national oceanic and atmospheric administration, advisory council on historic preservation and the epa to discuss each agency's respected emergency procedures and considerations to expedite the review and permitting process for future construction. fhwa continues to meet with these agencies to discuss permitting. thank you to the state, local and federal agencies continue to collaborate in response to this tragic event. whether it is the event of the scale and complexity but an comparatively smaller but impactful bridge incidents on i- 95 in philadelphia or i-10 in in los angeles, i am proud to lead an agency that is playing a part in showing the country what can happen with the government and industry come together with a common goal. there are no e democratic roads or republican bridges and transportation unites us. fhwa will do what it can to support the response as the president has said, we will not rest until the cement has dried on the entirety of a new bridge.

thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and i would be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you. now we will go to chair hominy. >> thank you. good morning chairman graves and ranking member larsen. with me today is the lead investigator of this accident, acting director of marine be safety and other dedicated ntsb staff. thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the ongoing investigation into the collapse of the francis scott key bridge. on behalf of the ntsb, i offer heartfelt condolences to the families of all of those who were lost in this tragedy and deepest sympathies to those who were injured or otherwise impacted by this event. >> i want to thank numerous federal and state partners for their support on scene and throughout this investigation. yesterday we released our preliminary report which shows that the dali expensed four

total power outages. preliminary information indicates that the march 25th blackouts were mechanically distinct from those that occurred on march 26. two were related to routine maintenance and port. two were unexpected tripping of circuit breakers on the accident voyage. on the 25th, a blackout occurred when a crew member mistakenly closed a engine damper while he was working on the exhaust system in port. this effectively blocked the engines exhaust gases from traveling out of the vessel stack and causing the engine to stall. vessel power was briefly restored, insufficient fuel pressure to the online generator caused speed to decrease. its breaker opened and a second blackout occurred. while recovering from the second blackout, the crew switched to a different transformer instead of breakers

from those that had been in use for several months. switching breakers is not unusual, but it may have affected operations the very next day on the accident voyage. the configuration of the breakers remains under investigation. on the 26th, when the ship was about .6 miles from the bridge, one high-voltage and one low- voltage breaker that were powering most of the vessels equipment and lighting unexpectedly tripped. as a result, the vessel lost main propulsion. bridge equipment also lost power and the voyage data recorder lost system feeds. bridge audio continue to be recorded. the crew was able to briefly le restore power to the vessel, but another blackout occurred when a different breaker tripped. at this point, the ship was about .2 miles from the key bridge the crew regained electrical power right before

the dali struck pierre 17, but they were unable to restore propulsion. the ship had an emergency generator, which automatically started following the first block out blackout on the 26th. however, the generator only power systems like emergency lighting, navigation, radio equipment, alarms and a th steering pump that allowed for low-speed limited rudder movements. it does not power propulsion. without the propeller turning, the writer was less effective. they were essentially drifting. we are still investigating the exact time the emergency generator started. going forward, this is a complex investigation. our investigators have been on scene consistently since this accident. in fact, they are on board the vessel as i testify today. it is unprecedented to be there that long.

we will continue evaluating the design and operation of the dali power distribution system including breakers, examination of damage to the vessel will continue when the ship is clear of debris and moved to a shoreside facility. we are also working with maryland as they say pier protection on their other bridges. we are examining improvements es that have been made following other bridge collapses resulting from marine vessel strikes that we have investigated in the past. lastly, there are a lot of questions regarding the fuel. our investigators found that the ship was running on low sulfur marine gas oil at the time of the accident, which it had been using since march 21st. we directed a independent lab to test all fuel stored on the ship, including the fuel that was being burned at the time of the accident. the test results did not identify any concerns related to the quality of the fuel. thank you again, for the

opportunity to testify and i look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you, all. we will turn to your questions. i will let rick ask the first one. >> thank you. i appreciate that. the first question is for the administrator. you said, when you look at reconstruction with the bridge, you look at current standards consistent with law. does the current law allow a circumstance like this a rebuild of a different kind of bridge in order to be eligible for either federal or for the cost share? you could build one under current standards and be in violation of the law, under the circumstance, allows you to do. walk through that a little bit. >> thank you for the question. i think what we are examining in working with maryland d.o.t. , the original bridge was built

in the 1970s. a truss bridge, which was common at the time. today, most of the bridges that are being replaced are trusts bridges being replaced by cable ridges. different standards. obviously you will hear from the ntsb on their final results of the investigation. under the law, what we want to do is replace a structure as this one and build it to current standards and maryland d.o.t. . we are not doing it for pediments that will did not exist covered by the er program. >> admiral gautier, the core spent a certificate resource in recovery effort. there is no mechanism, i'm sorry, the coast guard has, there is no mechanism for the coast guard to recoup that funding and you're not totally reimbursed for this kind of work. yet, with a workforce shortage

of about 10%, you are closing and downgrading stations within the coast guard, not because of this incident but that is what is happening in the coast guard. we pass the coast guard authorization that gets us to 14.5 billion for 26, we are not near the goal of $20 billion service for 2030. as congress looks at the supplemental appropriations for the key bridge, how is the coast guard thinking about being part of that supplemental appropriation to get reimbursed for cost recovery for your work ? >> thank you, ranking member. i do not want to get ahead of the administration on the amounts and the details of the supplemental. the way you articulated, first of all, we have been expanding operating funds like we do for hurricane responses and other things. we have been keeping close tabs on those. so far we have spent about $20

million in direct and indirect funding on this particular response. what we see in the fence like this and others like it, we do what we call burn readiness. we have to have other assets around the area work harder and cover for the boats and aircraft and people working these. we have mobilized these now and on average we have about 200 individuals at the peak at the command post per day. that has gone down. we are mobilizing them from around the country. most of them are from outside baltimore. there is a opportunity cost for commands that provide those individuals. what this exposes is coast guard readiness is becoming more and more riddle as we fail to have the kind of consistent budgets reaching the 20 billion a year that the coast guard articulated. reaching the 3 billion per year on procurement

construction improvement, double what we actually received in order to do the necessary capitalizations. this brittleness manifests in a whole bunch of different ways and we really do appreciate congressional support and ask for additional support for appropriations in the future. >> general graham, to you, kind of the same question, last week the core recorder $20 million including 1 million out of my district and from prior-year funds. do you have an estimate of how many more dollars you might need to reprogram first? second, how are you thinking about supplemental appropriations for cost recovery for the core? >> ranking member larsen, thank you for that question. similar to the coast guard, we want to get ahead of the administration. right now we have been able to use the project funds, as your opening statement indicated,

the judging work we plan to do with those funds will still need to be done. the emergency reprogramming that i referenced in my opening statement, most of that money we did not need. where does that money come from? it is a savings. a lot of these projects happen during times of coping when it was a favorable bid environment and we were able to go back to those funds. a good example of what some of that might be, a contractor might put a claim on a project and request for adjustment and a few years later those claims have been adjudicated. if we do not have to pay that request, we would then and obligate those funds. >> mr. chairman, just indulge me for a moment, not for question, i do want to let cher homendy know , i need to absorb the first half of your report it is rather technical, i'm not

an engineer but i will absorb it and get back to you with questions. just as a data point for the committee the bridge collapsed in 2013 cost a total $19 million and it took us 10 years to recover $19 million. we should not be thinking of waiting to recover cost from insurance of the carrier or the bridge or whatever and pay for it, it has to take place first. it took 10 years to get $19 million, that is the average time for 19 million, i will be dead by the time we get the money back from this ocean carrier. just a data point for folks. >> mr. crawford. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for your testimony today. i want to start by acknowledging the six workers who lost their lives as a result of the collapse of the francis scott key bridge.

are some of these go out to their families and loved ones. hours after the bridge collapse, president biden came out and said it was his, quote, intention the federal government would pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge. further, he directed his team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible. we have a series of questions here as we try to understand the mechanics of the situation before us. if you would give me a yes or no response in the interest of time. while the bridge was located on i-695 prior to the collapse it was not considered the interstate it was maryland state route 695, is that correct? >> yes. >> the bridge previous he never received any federal funding, is that correct? >> yes. >> i understand federal highways approved a request from maryland to designate the bridge as interstate. is that correct? >> yes. >> meaning that the share out of the emergency relief program will be 90%, is that correct?

>> yes >> we are talking 10% for a bridge that was never received federal funding? >> yes. >> in your testimony you authorized you said authorizing the fair would be consistent with past bridge collapses. how many times has congress authorized a 100% federal share for a fully collapsed bridge? >> i think the reference point you're using is the i-35 w bridge collapse in minnesota. >> some say we need 100% federal funding so we can get the rebuilding done quickly, that's not how the er program works, it is a reimbursement program. >> absolutely. >> as i understand the er e process generally states that the program office has a process to make sure projects are ready to receive funding and work can be completed in the specified timeframe, is that right? >> yes. >> it does not matter if the project is getting 80%, 80%, hundred percent reimbursement

is based on progress and delivery, correct? >> yes. >> i want to be clear that nothing will move faster if this is 100% funded versus 90% or any other person whether the state contributes money or not the process for awarding federal reimbursement is still the same, correct? >> can i just deviate for a second? yes. however, this is the second largest er request we have received, 2.2 million for katrina was the first, 1.7 to $1.9 billion, that 10% of the is about 170, 190 million dollars for the state of maryland as they are programming a multiyear, multi-e million-dollar program it may impact other projects. >> let's talk about the regulatory regime that will be applied here. are we going to expect any kind of waivers or anything like that on dnieper or any other

regulatory compliance that would be customary on any other construction project >> we would not waive or any requirements but we have correlated with our agencies who issued permits and it is our intention, because the brand bridge existed in this relative footprint that it would be a categorical exclusion. >> expand on category exclusio what does that mean when you go through, you can do an impact statement, you can get to a finding of no significant impact on environmental assessment categorical exclusion is sort of the time- limited finding and the reason we would use that basis here is the bridge previously existed and we are putting a bridge back relatively on the same footprint. >> you're putting it back in the same spot, but not necessarily -- because you will use different construction,

would there be associated flow studies, for example, to address new construction? >> that is why we are coordinating with sister agencies with the permit. it is relatively in the same footprint, but we will probably use different peers, it will have a little bit of tweaking two different approaches, a different height, that is why i cannot say definitively it will be categorical exclusion that we are working towards it. >> it sounds like there will be a great deal flexibility in the interest of getting this restored, rebuilt and restoring traffic and commerce and everything associated with the bridge; is that correct? st >> i am not sure flex ability si is the right word, i think attention from sister agencies and understanding there is a desire to move quickly. a >> i am all for that. i hope in the future other projects will be given the same consideration because time is money and i understand that is

the case here. there are a lot of other projects that are pending and have cost millions in regulatory compliance fees that have really been delayed as a result. thank you. i yield back. >> thank you, mr. chairman. administrator bhatt , the department of transportation data shows that traffic crashes rose 29% on alternative routes in the weeks following the key bridge collapse. the same data show that it now takes between two and four times longer for drivers to travel those alternative routes. that means trucks are delayed in reaching their destinations

and commuters are late getting to their jobs or home to their families and there is more air pollution and wasted fuel. how has the loss of the key bridge hurt traffic safety and reduced mobility for drivers in the baltimore region? >> thank you for the question. we saw in philadelphia after i- 95, we had the bridge collapse, there was all kinds of traffic moving through neighborhoods and trying to find their way. i think a similar effect is happening in baltimore. usually when you have an impact where you remove a significant piece of infrastructure, traffic levels out after a while. that is not happening here in baltimore to the same extent. i think it is because of the criticality of this artery, it

is part of the northeast corridor, it is a for maryland and baltimore and it is important for the northeast corridor. there are trucks and vehicles going through neighborhoods that they normally would not be onis. that is why it is critically important that we move with as much speed as possible. >> administrator bhatt , it is clear that we need to restore commerce to the port of baltimore and rebuild the bridge to improve safety and mobility. the full maryland delegation has proposed legislation to provide 100% federal share for the cost of the new bridge. i wholeheartedly support this legislation. what effect would be 100% federal share have on efforts to rebuild the bridge quickly? >> thank you, representative for the question. i have spent

a lot of time running state d.o.t.'s in my career, i have been on the private side before this job that works on bridges across the globe. i would say the benefit of the 100% share brings is it removes an element of uncertainty. si right now i think maryland, i have to commend maryland d.o.t., they have been constant professionals throughout the process. right now what they are contemplating is a er shortage that we have told them about that we have $3.7 billion in unmet needs as the federal highway administration with about $870 million available for nationwide er efforts. we are telling them we believe we will have the er funding for them and then they have the uncertainty of the 90% versus the 100%. as you plan out these multiyear multi-million-dollar construction programs, not knowing whether or not that $170 million will be there,

does it impact things? right now at this moment, no. they will move forward. as a project out and try to build their construction program, it is an element of uncertainty that would be helpful. just to clarify on the 100%, any insurance payments, as the ranking member had mentioned, would be reapplied. i can pretty much with certainty guarantee this will not be 100% quickly funded eventually because we will recoup all of the insurance payments as possible and it will go back to the e.r. funds. as the ranking member mentioned we do not want to wait for all of the litigation and ntsb investigation and insurance issues for that. >> thank you. i yield back. >> mr. webster. >> thank you, mr. chairman for bringing this forward. thank you to the witnesses. last week, the army corps

notified the congressional offices that they would be utilizing emergency program and reprogramming authority to reprogram approximately $33 million of previously appropriated operation and maintenance trust fund dollars for recovery cost imposed by the collapse of the key bridge. nearly $1 million was reappropriated from florida. and projects in florida without any request or input from congressional delegation, the state or the people. while the recovery effort in baltimore is important, the reprogramming of the funds represents a disregard for florida and desperately needed improvements to our resources and infrastructure. general graham, if these preprogrammed funds were deemed

to be in excess, why did the court let these funds sit for years and not act sooner to reprogram them towards projects in florida? with the core plan to reimburse the south atlantic division for these funds? >> congressman, webster thank you for that question. the example i used earlier of some of the funds that we set aside for a contract claim, that was from jacksonville and that was from the jacksonville district and jacksonville harbor. in this case, those funds like 300 some thousand dollars are no longer needed for the jacksonville harbor project. those funds in particular that we set them aside for a need, and that need did materialize, we will not seek recoupment for those.

we did do this work, this emergency reprogramming work very rapidly. as i stated in my opening statement, we have not used this authority at this scale for 15 years and we are little clunky at it in terms of notification to you and your staff's. i will use jacksonville district as an example. if there are some funds that they find a need for, we will figure out a way to make sure projects continue. to your first comment on some of the old funds that have been sitting out there for a while, why haven't we cleaned up the book sooner? you're right, we should have. >> as you know, better than most that the gulf states that because the national contingency plan unified command structure response throughout the horizon oil spill. oi national incident commander's report concluded the state's efforts resulted in the

political and social notification of the oil spill. also in response the doctrine and governance. it appears that meetings with maryland state officials and members of staff took trips to the wreck site that maryland embraced the national incident land structure. it has worked well within the structure. as the national incident command structure still an effective and efficient mechanism for correlating federal inter-agency and state, local, federal interactions during the incident such as the dali? f >> congressman, if that is for me, i cannot agree more with your statement, as the chief of staff for admiral allen on the

deepwater horizon spill and now someone who witnessed the terrific work and unified effort of this. it has been very different in terms of cooperation and collaboration. underpinning that is the absolute necessity and benefit of the incident command system under the national management incident framework which has served incredibly well. it is the doctrine of the u.s.. any agency, entity, army corps state can come together with common lexicon, common way of planning to come together and make this work. i also would like to highlight a difference that has made a difference. that is, elected leadership and operational leadership has been connected in a very constructive way from governor moore to mayor scott, to members of congress from the maryland delegation. they have

taken it upon themselves to get regular updates and a great interest in the progress of the response. they have handled a lot of the public affairs and external communications. and they have actually provided the trade space for the operational response to continue on without pressure, without being rushed. it has been very constructive. >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> mr. cohen. >> thank you, chairman graves and ranking member larsen for all of this hearing on the francis scott key bridge collapse. i further extend my condolences to the families of the six individuals who lost their lives during the collapse. i think our esteemed witnesses for appearing especially administrator bhatt , who was with us in memphis on monday. i appreciate you coming to see

the i-55 bridge and the urgent need to replace it across the mississippi river for west memphis. as you know that is a national treasure to have transportation going across the country on i- 40. we have the i-40 bridge problem last year that shut down and the i-55 bridge could have the same problem because it is in the new mandarin earthquake fault. it has been predicted to occur for about 20 years, but it will occur more likely sooner than later. as you all look at the damage to the key bridge, which was caused partially because it was not built to withstand that large of a boat, it could have been, the peers could have been buttressed and made it more stable: is that correct x mr. od

bhatt , can you answer? >> thank you, resident of cohen, yes, it was good to spend some time with you in memphis looking at that bridge. one thing that we are waiting for, it was great to see the preliminary report from the ntsb, but we will be working closely with the ntsb to figure out exactly what types of protection might be needed for bridges and what could have been possible. again, i do not want to stop step into the ntsb realm. >> i'm sorry. please. >> thank you, sir. for the key bridge we are looking at two dolphins on the east side and two on the westside. they were rather small and the vessel bypass the dolphins. what ended up striking the pier was the starboard side of the bow that hit the column. the

peer protection around the column itself is timber, concrete, a little steel, but it is very close into the pier itself. other structures that we are looking at have peer protection that comes out farther. so a vessel cannot get to the column. other dolphins are much larger. we are looking at other structures across the united states to see what might be good models. >> i think the key here is you have a bridge that was opened in 1977. over time, it is not the bridge that is getting larger, is not the waterway getting larger, it is the vessels getting larger. not just with but height with containers. it is important that states and other bridge owners are looking at, from a risk assessment standpoint, what is now going through, what is the vessel

traffic and how is the infrastructure protected. >> were there bridges built after 1977 built in a fashion that they can withstand an impact? >> thank you for the question. it is an important question. we are working with state d.o.t. partners to identify all of the bridges that are subject to seagoing vessels. also the great lakes region, large traffic on the mississippi and other waterways. what this has done is driven home the need to look at many bridges we are going to rely on the ntsb recommendations. i have heard different analogies , it is the equivalent of a

rocket ship taking off. we just want to be careful in our consideration of how we protect and build bridges in the 21st century as they deal with these new potential threats. >> i just want to urge you as i did in memphis that we need to look at preventative measures so we do not have another francis scott key bridge disaster. earthquakes would cause that and there is no place in the united states more vulnerable than the new band -- new madrid fault. it is deficient and it needs to be replaced and i hope that you will look in terms just as this disaster of bridges that were funded under the bipartisan infrastructure might be susceptible to -- i hate to give god responsibility, but

the disasters caused by anything other than man-made disasters. >> i want to offer my condolences to the families. it underscores how potentially horrific and unmanageable at what might be seen as mundane work in a critical moment. it is unimaginable if you can imagine yourself at 2:00, 3:00 in the morning following hundred, 200 feet into the water with steel and concrete crashing around you. with that administrator bhatt, the francis scott key bridge was a toll facility that never received any federal funding prior to the collapse, right? >> yes, sir. >> how much revenue did the state of maryland receiver generate from the bridge on an annual basis? do you know? >> i have to double check. i

don't want to give you false numbers. >> i 56.8 million in 2023, just for your reference. that is what they were taking in. under the current law and this administration's plan, the bridge would get 100% share. the federal government would pay 100% of that. while you say this is consistent with bridge collapsed emergencies in the past, and i think you are referring to the i-35 collapse, that was not a toll bridge, that was part of the interstate system. my questions center around payment for this. i think we can all agree that we probably and shouldn't wait for the insurance companies and litigators to work it out, but maryland had insurance on the bridge, didn't they? >> i am aware of one policy that maryland has of $350 million.

>> $350 million. that should, by all rights, you assume would be action and going towards paying for a portion of the bridge reconstruction that it would pay for. >> absolutely. i just have yet to go through and figure out exactly what is c in there. whatever portion of that 350 million we would apply. >> when you say consisted with past emergencies. as you said, the refund is 3.7 billion behind . we are 35 trillion this month in debt at the federal level. i wonder if you think it is fair that the american taxpayer should not only pay to reconstruct the bridge, but then pay tolls after which to use the infrastructure that they paid for in their taxes. because you are going to set a new precedent. is that the president we are going to set? is there some plan to recoup

the cost of reconstruction of the bridge. i think according to the figures we have heard today upwards of $2 billion, a bridge that originally cost 60.3 million. is there some plan to recoup that and send it back to the disaster relief fund or to the highway fund which continually needs massive infusions from the general fund to stay afloat. what is the plan? >> thank you, sir. very important questions. i appreciate your interest. let me try to quickly go through that. this was a maryland state facility before and it has been designated as part of the interstate system. they were free to collect tolls and use them for port of baltimore, whatever they were using them for. now since this was federalized as a facility and going forward tolls are restored, as part of the interstate system, they have to use those for title 23

eligible funding. whether that is the maintenance of the existing bridge number or other title 23 highway purposes in maryland. the american taxpayer will be benefiting from those tolls. in terms of the president, if it was a pre-existing toll facility, they are allowed to hold the facility going forward , again, it would be using title 23 eligible expenditures on those tolls. >> i understand the title 23 expenditures and understand they be used for surface transportation of maryland. you're asking taxpayers from across the country to pay for it. if you're from washington state, likely you will never travel across that bridge, but you are going to pay for it. as long as we are setting precedent we should consider reimbursing through the tolls the emergency fund, or the transportation fund for the entire country before all of the money goes right back to the state that is going to

receiving it where the bridge resides, which arguably was not prepared to withstand the traffic impact that it had. meanwhile, it is right there. it is not a surprise that the bridge is there and ships are going under it and this could happen. with that in mind, with the time that i have expended, i hope you would consider a plan to reimburse the taxpayer under horrific debt right now who cannot afford their groceries, gas bills, their daycare bills for the cost of this bridge for which one state has been receiving all the money for its entire existence and apparently will receive all the money from the tolls for the rest of its existence. with that, mr. chairman i yield the balance. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

thank you for the hearing. witnesses, vice admiral and general, thank you and your teams and the organizations you contracted with, you are doing extra work and we thank you for that. the issue before this committee was pretty much laid out by the chairman in his opening remarks. i would suggest that we have an opportunity to clarify the responsibility some of which we heard from the previous member a moment ago. a couple of things here. first of all, president biden is correct, we will put up the full cost of reconstruction. however, that legislation should be written in such a way that the federal government will be reimbursed for any money received in the liability

issues. the 350 million that the state of maryland had as an insurancew policy on the bridge, as well as whatever other payment may come from lawsuits against the shipping company and the owners of the ship. this really should be the work of this committee is to carefully structure the legislation so that the federal government, ponying up 100% at the onset would be fully reimbursed by any revenues. my colleague raise an interesting point about tolls. we should consider that and how that fits into it. keep in mind the entire interstate system where tolls en are collected in various places across the united states. those are things that are out there. there is one other issue that i want to encourage this committee to deal with, in

addition to recovering whatever money might be available from lawsuits. that is the limit of liability act of 1851. it seems as though perhaps even that precedes the law in arizona, which dealt with a different issue. that limited liability act really has to change. i would urge the committee to take up this issue. i intend to present to the committee, at the appropriate time, a piece of legislation to do so. so that the owners of these vessels would be held responsible for the cost of their mistakes right now that limited liability would hold that the owner of the ship would be limited to $47 millionu

, even though the ship is worth 90 million or more, and the damages somewhere around 2 billion, not including the cost of the recovery issues and the expenses that the coast guard and the army corps of engineers are now incurring. my point here is to raise this policy issue, and the work of this committee as we go forward. i think the chairman correctly pointed out, we do not need to do much for the next couple of months, but this year we have to pass legislation to clarify the ability of the federal government to receive any funds that are available from various lawsuits that are out there. also, this committee should, since it is our jurisdictional area deal with this 1851 law

that limits the liability of the ship owner to any accident and problem that they may cost. i don't know if this is an appropriate question for the general or the vice admiral, you're welcome to jump in if you like i think mr. bhatt , if you might comment on this issue on how we might structure legislation to recover whatever fee, whatever damages that may be in the future from either insurance or losses. you can look for help. >> your reference to them, i was taking a lot of the answers and i'm happy to share my time. under the e.r. program, under the existing law as it states, any insurance money that is recouped for any e.r. country do go directly back into the e.r. funds. the ranking member mentioned the $19 million bridge, i think

it was about 16.6 million that was recovered through insurance and it went directly back in print as he said correctly, 10 years after the incident. whether it is $350 million insurance policy that maryland has existing, or a close investigation or post legal activity going on for as long as that may be, we will recover all of that money and send it back in. as you correctly pointed out, there is some question about how much liability that is out there >> that really should be addressed to the coast guard who might want to comment, but i'm out of comment on it, but i am out of time now. >> gentlemen's time has expired. mr. bhatt, you will recognize. >> sir, thank you. is thank you to the witnesses for being here, your testimonies. i think there is definitely some resentment among my colleagues in the american public about this incident. the perception here is really

frustrating, and you have already addressed some of these, but i would like to ask my questions. if you zoom out, the singapore flag crashes into and completely destroyed a historic bridge, killed six construction workers, and is now trying to avoid liability for the incident. people have a lot of questions. is it safe, foreign flag vessels to operate in u.s. waterways? are other bridges safe? i have heard a number of questions wondering whether there bridges are safe. was this incident a result of foul play or negligence? what can we do to prevent this from ever happening again? who is going to pay for this thing? i appreciate you all for coming and answering questions. my first question is for admiral gautier. if anyone else has thoughts, please feel free to jump in. i know this whole response is

a great team effort. first off, i'm told the coast guard is doing a great job leading the way in the unified response in baltimore. i want to thank you and the coast guard for your commitment and all of the hard work that you and the coast guard have done. as you all know better than most, the gulf states fought against the national contingency plan unified command structure response throughout the deepwater horizon oil spill a few years ago in the gulf of mexico. the national incident commander's nureport concluded that gulf -- the gulf state's effort -- resulted in the political and social nullification of the oil spill response doctrine and structured governance it appears, from press reports, meetings with maryland's state officials and number and staff trips to the recreation site, that maryland embraced the command structure and that the responses worked well within that structure. as the national incident command structure and still an effective and efficient mechanism for correlating

federal interagency and state/local/federal interactions during incidents such as the dolly collision? >> congas men, thank you very much, first off, for the complements to the coast guard. i just have to also acknowledge leadership with army corps of engineers, colonel butler, jim harkins and jeff donahoe, for the state incident commanders. it is a fantastic leadership team. to answer your question, the incident command system is absolutely a fundamental principle that -- by which -- this incident response has been successful. it is part of u.s. doctrine under the national incident management system. it is how we respond to hurricanes, oil spills, other types of incidents, just like this. i think we now have a great deal of practice in the united states since the deepwater horizon in doing this. i think what i will just

observe is that this particular incident had a very tight connection between the operational commanders who are running the incident and elected leaders, who all shared the same time and effort, governor, mayor, members of congress, to keep up-to-date on what was going on and to provide the traits for these folks to get along. >> thank you per second question, i would like to address the path forward from here, for the key bridge, what is the plan to replace the bridge? my constituents are not willing to pay for this thing, and in my view, the company or the country responsible for the incident should be footing the bill, not the u.s. taxpayer. if the u.s. is ultimately going to pay for the bridge, a better come out of funds we have already allocated. president biden, speaker pelosi authorized trillions for infrastructure, and that should be including bridges. the last thing i want to do is spend another 1 or 2 billion on

new bridges. bhatt, talk to me about what you see as a way forward on this thing. >> thank you, congas men. in terms of the rebuild path, maryland ut playstation the rfp closer to memorial day. they will select a preferred team in august, and then they're looking at construction completion in 2028 as a preliminary schedule, and in terms of the payment -- as i have stated -- right now, there's the preliminary estimate 1.7 to $1.9 billion, $53 million insurance payment we are working through to see what level that would be applicable in any funds that are recover from legal activity or insurance will go back into the e.r. funds. we just don't have a path to getting there right now in terms of what is eligible. >> okay. i am out of time. i yield back, mr. chairman. thank you.

>> mr. johnson? >> thank you, mr. chairman, for holding this very important hearing. thank you to the witnesses for appearing, and thank you for the work that you have been doing to ameliorate the harm that has been caused by this bridge collapse. i also want to offer my condolences to the families of the six construction workers who were killed in this bridge collapse. i would like to commend the quick work of the police officers who made sure that traffic was stopped, and no other people were on the bridge who could have been killed as a result of this collapse. i also want to recognize the collaboration between state and federal officials and agencies to address this situation, and i want to get at this issue of,

perhaps, there being some people in the country who are not inside the state of maryland who present having to pay for this bridge reconstruction. can -- administrator bhatt -- tell us how this bridge collapse impacts interstate commerce? >> thank you for your condolences and for the question, congas men. i think -- i was in the second her chest predation in delaware, colorado, as a deputy in kentucky. i think that what is so critically important for our transportation system is that you can drive from new york to los angeles, across the system that is the uniform, set to standards, and what is happening -- i think we have learned from the port of baltimore, is that that highway system is tied to ports, so the busiest port in the country,

their jobs are being impacted, there's free movements being impacted, neighborhoods being impacted, and so, yeah, this is not just an issue for marilyn. this is from the north sea corridor and are national economy. >> it is actually having an impact on prices or consumer goods, is that correct? >> that is something that, under the leadership of secretary buddha judge, we have closely been looking at many of the goods that move through there. so, there is a lot of coal that moves through that port, there's a lot of automobiles, of farm equipment.and so, to the extent -- there's a lot of that traffic that has been diverted. i don't want to get outside the federal highway lane to other ports, but there was a lot of movement of goods from, say, ships that have diverted back to maryland, and that is adding costs for those same vehicles to be finished at the plants nearby, so obviously, supply chain is important. >> okay.

thank you. when is it projected -- assuming funding is complete -- that the bridge can be rebuilt and reopened? >> thank you, sir. the projected schedule right 20 now is a progressive design build team to be selected this summer, and for construction to begin next year through 2028. >> thank you. and so, it would be 2029 before the bridge would reopen for traffic? >> 2028-2029, in the middle. it will be a progressive design build. we will figure out the schedule as we go. >> take you. chairwoman hall monday, with respect to the causation of this cargo vessel losing power and that causing it -- this vessel -- to drift into a bridge -- are there any concerns, or does

the fact that there seems to be no redundancy in terms of the basic power of the vessel -- there is no redundancy -- cut it on, it gets cut off, there's no secondary situation that would kick in? am i correct on that. and if i am correct, what are the implications as we move forward? >> yeah. there's certainly redundancy in the electrical system and the circuit breakers. they switched to circuit breakers after the power outages in the port. with respect to the emergency generator, it would not allow for regaining propulsion. it really focuses on the critical portions of the vessel, which would be radio, communication, lighting. if you had any sort of -- if

you wanted to regain propulsion through any sort of emergency generator, it would literally take a 6-story generator on a vessel to do that. there is redundancy in, say, cruise ships, but vessels -- the dolly is not unlike other vessels. i think, here, is really determining for us what happened with the electrical system on the accident voyage. what happened in those two blackouts, which is why we have been looking very closely with hyundai, who manufactures the equipment to try to replicate some of the electrical problems that we're seeing from that day, and continue looking and testing each of the components. >> thank you.

>> mr. graves? >> thank you, mr. chairman. first, i want join others in wishing condolences to the families of those lost in the bridge collapse, and also, i just find it remarkable that the incredible action of law enforcement community that came in and stopped traffic that could have been much worse than it was. last week, had the opportunity to go to the bridge, and i will tell you, admiral gilreath and captain o'donnell, even lieutenant carter, behind a little while ago, just absolutely remarkable. general, colonel, your district commander down there, colonel jason, i believe, also met her down in new orleans. she and her team did a great job for dhs. they were really, really good, incredibly thorough briefing, gave lots of comfort that things were under control. i appreciate all of the efforts

that are underway down there. administrator, i want to ask a question and make sure i understand something. you said earlier that once we have done this bridge, it will be consistent with other bridges in the past. for disasters. is that accurate? >> thank you, representative for trying to think of what i said. >> i wrote down what you said, consistent with historic bridge disasters, but not another bridge where you can just designated it will be part of the interstate system. >> no. we only learned it was not part of the interstate system in light of this event. >> okay. that is an anomaly. >> absolutely. >> okay. i want to be clear on that, and secondly, you talked about the use of allegorical exclusions and doing some type of expedited -- what do you do an alternative arrangement -- i want to be clear, fully supportive of it, but in the past, minneapolis bridge, i-35 bridge, the bridge in as washington state and others, i believe similar things have

been done. can you cite where there's been environment for damages or destruction from that approach as opposed to going through the regular depot? >> so, just trying to dig through your question -- exciting environment of damage by using the expedited approach, i can't cite inviolable damage. >> i can't either. actually, major general graham -- sorry about that, demoted you -- general, you recall after hurricane katrina, levees were built with alternative arrangements. do you remember any kind of environment for damages or destructions caused from doing the alternative arrangements? i don't think so either. i think it worked out really well. so, my message to you on this is that, right now, the average road project takes somewhere around 7 yours, 3 reported months. as you know, the white house just released new rules in line with -- attempting to be in line with the fiscal responsibility act but failing

on some things -- but that would significant me shorten it. my message is that this shouldn't be the exception. environment for damages haven't resulted from using categorically exclusions or alternative arrangements. look, i don't know what the traffic impacts are on this bridge. we have a bridge at home that is the source of the fourth worst traffic problem in america. the mississippi river bridge. i-10, california to florida, 4th worst traffic in america. we have taken 7 years to narrow a new bridge alignment down to 32 alignments. you can't make this stuff up. this is outrageous.we have urgency there as well. want to be crystal clear, i fully support federal funding upfront. let's get this thing built, get it done as quickly as possible. fully support categorical exclusion or alternative arrangements. i have been in touch with the governor of maryland. appreciate him reaching out.

but this is a major anomaly. we have got a tall, we have got a responsible party. this isn't a natural disaster. i think that we need to make sure that we're holding responsible party accountable.we had a similar incident in louisiana in the mid-'90s, the brightfield incident that came and crashed into the river walk in la louisiana. there was a japanese built a vessel run by -- excuse me -- i think run by chinese, flagged in liberia. admiral, really quick, can you think of any similar incidents with jones act vessels that have occurred like this? >> not from deep draft vessels. certainly, a number of towing what is >> sure, barges and much more incidents. chairman harmony, -- homendy -- and for the record, one thing i wanted to point out here, jones act vessels, u.s. built, u.s. crude and flagged, we go through annual inspections, night and day difference.

i think that is something else we need to take into consideration here. lastly, administrator, this bridge is not going to be built back exactly like it was. it will be more wide, you will have shoulders and a different configuration with different influences on bumpers. you will have dolphins and other things protecting the peer structures. is that correct? >> yes, sir. >> okay. wanted to make sure that we're noting that this is actually a different bridge that is being reconstructed with, effectively, waving or providing alternative arrangements or categorical exclusions. le >> thank you, mr. chairman. like everyone here, i, too, offer sympathy to the families of those who were lost. these people represent, sometimes, the invisible folks on the front lines who provide safety and security in their infrastructure. also, the harbor workers and police officers who were there and made this situation much less terrible than i read it was. i wanted to ask that chairwoman and administer bhatt about one of the things that has been pointed out in the study of

the bridge. seems like it didn't have a reliable vendor system, i believe it is called, to protect the peers from the crash. i wondered if you have reviewed riches and other major ports to determine whether or not they have those vendors in place, and if not, is there an existing program with funding that might be used retrofit some of those other bridges to be sure they don't have the same problem? i hate the word, but we can be proactive about it. >> thank you for the question. we have actually been recommending -- we recommended back in 1988 -- that the coast guard and the federal highways evaluate the adequacy of your protection on bridges over navigable waterways in u.s. ports and harbors. that recommendation remains closed, unacceptable, because at the time, the coast guard said they did not have the authority to take action on that evaluation, but one thing i will say -- and i hope that

we walk away from this in considering that the federal government states, the bridge owners, they need to evaluate current structures and make sure, if you have navigable waterway, you are doing a risk analysis to ensure safety, to ensure there is adequate peer protection.ar in this situation, we are looking at peer protection. we are certainly looking at thea dolphins, but then the protection around the peers themselves, and then looking at different bridges across the united states to see how those have been improved over time. in this situation, you have a bridge that began operations in 1977, and if it was built today, it would be built differently. so, that has to be taken into consideration. i will say, i am very encouraged by what the admiral

announced, their board of inquiry, about looking at ports across the united states to make sure there is adequate protection. i assume that will include some of the structures as well, including bridges. that is great. >> administrator bhatt, would you like to comment on that? >> thank you, congresswoman. yes. we are obviously working closely with the ntsb, and really respect their thoughts and guidance. we have already reached out to our state d.o.t. partners, who are the owners of these bridges. any kind bridge tragedy after minnesota, everybody is reaching out to figure out what fracture they had at bridges. we have already got a pulmonary list. we're going to continue to identify it. again, it is the deep draft vessels, the barges, it is examining all of the threats id and in doing that cost/benefit analysis of what protections are sort of quickly deployable, how do we get these bridges

protected, and then how do we update design standards, giving the ever-changing nature of the vessels going underneath them. >> i believe the acronym is bfp, bridge replacement rehabilitation preservation, protection and construction program -- is that an available one with any kind of funding that can be used to retrofit some of these bridges if they don't meet these requirements you are talking about? >> thank you, congresswoman. yes. in the bipartisan effort "the presidency lock on $25 billion was allocated for discretionary grant funding, and i think about 30 billion on the formula side. the seismic protection, as has been shown, retrofitting is possible, and this is something we're going to look into as we work with our state partners applying for those funds. >> as you look into it, if you find any problems with the program that want allow it to work towards retrofitting in a

situation like this, or make it more difficult, will you let us know, so if we need to make some changes, we can address those legislative? >> yes, ma'am. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you, gentleman yields back. gentleman from north carolina, we recognize you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i, too, want to extend my condolences to the family and all of those were injured in this very tragic happening. general graham, i will start with you. last year, the court announced it would be appropriate dollars specific for other core projects towards the efforts at baltimore harbor. it is our understanding these funds were appropriated in fiscal year 2020 or earlier and have been determined to be more than what's needed for those authorized projects. is that an accurate trail? >> that is acra >> so, this has created a bit lm of confusion among members, and

even the committee here. back home, for example, we have got the wilmington district, seeing several projects whose funds have been repurposed, notably wilmington harbor, morehead city harbor and new river and that all with fr hundreds of thousands of dollars redirected from their maintenance accounts. can you provide the committee with the amount of reprogram dollars, a list of the programs you are reprogramming those funds from, and which districts those projects are in? >> absolutely. >> we would greatly appreciate those answers as quickly as possible. then, the question everybody has gone on their mind is how much money is sitting out there that is in an account that was appropriated in 2020 or earlier that has been left unused? i would like to know the answer to that question too.

then, following up, does the core plan to use section 10 what is' a-8 court authority in the future, and if so, is there a limitation to the number of times the court can utilize that authority within a specific timeframe? >> probably, we will have to use the emergency reprogramming authority again, as i stated in my opening statement. we have not used that authority at this scale for 15 years, and we understand that congress puts specific amounts of money on specific projects you intended to be used for those projects. in these instances, as stated earlier, most of these funds were the result of that savings, they were the result of we hold onto additional money to settle claims with contractors. so, it is a relatively good news story that we saved the taxpayers money. to your statement on our

accounting procedures, do those need to be looked at so that those funds aren't sitting out there? absolutely. we're committed to that. >> thank you. following up, and given these funds are well on their way to being reprogrammed, does the core plan to return any of those funds to the districts? what is your plan there? if so, what would that timeline be? >> make sure i understand the question correctly. the district had no uses for these funds, and so as such, we don't plan to return them. if we come up with and, say, we made it up as we do need some t of these -- we'll work with them to make sure that those projects can be delivered. s >> sure. well, every district has a disaster of some sort at some point, and i suspect that all those army corps districts around the country would be able to have a little flex ability to tap into funding

that was allocated specific projects within their jurisdiction, which is why i ask that question. with that, mr. chairman, i think that exhausts my question. i yield back. >> north carolina yields back. mr. corporal, recognize you. >> thank you, mr. chair. i recently made a visit to the francis scott key bridge incident with a number of my colleagues to see it firsthand. admiral gautier, the coast guard has an obligation to respond to all marine casualties, but incidents of this size have an outsized impact on coast guard resources. unfortunately, this incident comes at a time of strained d resources, and a 10% workforce shortage. what is the operational strain on the coast guard's responding to the bridge collapse, and how can congress help, and what is

the impact on the workforce? >> congas men, we have mobilized people from across the country, activated reservists to staff the command post and respond here. we have used cutters and small boats from around the area, helicopters, and so on, to do this response. so, there's an immediate area of impact to readiness, certainly, but what we know is that, for unplanned incidents like this, we mobilize a lot very quickly, there are also readiness impacts that have been well beyond the initial site. so, i think, in terms of -- and going into what's likely to be a pretty severe hurricane season -- i think the main thing here is that, in order for the coast guard to reconstitute and be ready for the next one, we need to have continued and enduring financial appropriation support from congress. we spent about $20 million so far in direct and indirect

costs here, but we know that i readiness in the water/waste management field is brittle. there is a cutter on scene as a patrol commander that is 62 years old. the coast guard cutter sledge. we are working to recapitalize that class of cutter and the waterways commerce cutter. this is repeated again and again in terms of aircraft recapitalization, major cuddle recapitalization support for our people. >> thank you. admiral gautier, the i am a which is minimal global standards for safe shipping practices. the u.s. flag vessels are subject to higher standards and scrutiny. this is one of the several reasons i think it is unaccountable that we rely on flag of convenience vessels to carry over 90% of our international cargo. there's a small minority of my colleagues who believe that the jones act should be repealed.

i am not one of them. how would your job of ensuring safety in u.s. waters be made more difficult if u.s. vessels ceiling in our coastal waterways and inland rivers were supplanted by foreign ships with foreign mariners? >> congas men, your question is related to safety, and the coast guard applications of safety. the jones act has been with us for 100 years. it is pretty foundational to how maritime commerce flows in the united states, and the coast guard's work very hard to provide an equivalent level of safety from foreign flag vessels for our crews and imo through established standards, but what i really can say here is that the jones act is crucial for our maritime security elements, in terms of the industrial shipbuilding capability of the united states of america, the coast guard, and that the navy,

meren, and others rely on in terms of constructing the u.s. flag military and public vessels as well. we do not want in any way, shape, or form, to jeopardize that maritime security element of the defense industrial complex through shipbuilding. >> chair homendy, is common practice for american mariners working on u.s. flagships to work on board a vessel for two to three months at a time? mariners sailing on a flag of vessels often remain at sea for longer. in the case of the dolly, i understand that the engineers had been on board for more than eight months. since your pulmonary report showed at least one mistake by the engineer, should we be concerned with the prevalence of flag convenience vessels, which operate with lower standards, operating in and around critical u.s. infrastructure? >> well, we are still on scene

and evaluating everything about this accident. we will look at any sort of federal regulations or i am a standards to make sure they're adequate, but it is too early to tell. >> what about the standard? if they abide by lowered standards, that shouldn't be of concern? >> i'm not saying it is not a concern. i'm saying we have to evaluate with this particular accident what was in place and whether that was adequate or not. >> but beyond this incident, is there a concern? >> i will have to get back to you on that for the record. >> thank you. mr. chair, i yield back. >> gentlemen yields back. chair recognizes mr. wass from illinois for five minutes.

>> thank you, madame chair. i will associate myself with the comments of concern for the families, and prayers for tragedies such as this, and also to thank the people responded so well and are doing the work, you know, but ensuring that our nation's infrastructure is secure and maintained is an important responsibility of our congress, but it is also important to have uniform guidelines in place to know how an infrastructure is going to be paid for. in my district, when local communities reach out for assistance with grants to do road work, they know that local cultures are at 20%. just recently, my district had office on highway us 50 one -- we had -- it is going to be closed for quite some time -- because a sinkhole opened up, and the local community will need to repair the road, and there will be a cost connected with that work. however, i don't expect the community to try to redesignate the road to be considered part of the interstate highway

system. mr. bhatt , despite being located on 675, the key bridge was not part of the state 75 system. the incident that caused the is collapse of the bridge occurred in march, yet, the bridge designation wasn't applied to be changed until april. are you aware of -- aware -- of this change for requirements for this road, and is it normal -- or is it normal for a road change to be designated after an incident? >> thank you for the question, representative. this is the first time i am aware of re- designating. >> me too. so, can w you explain, for the sake of taxpayers and the people around this country that also have issues how a roadway as a designated change suddenly

after repair work was identified? i can tell you, the constituents i represent would like to try to figure out how to do that, because that is why -- you can look -- i am just trying to figure it out, because we have uniform rules in place. if we're going to change them, we are the ones you come to. i need answers. >> yeah. sorry, didn't mean to cut you off there. yes. apologies to the community thatt had the sinkhole. i am sure that is quite an impactful event for that community. in this case, the -- this portion of i-695 was part of the nhs, shielded as part of the interstates since it was built in the 1970's. i think there was -- for mapping purposes -- it was part of that -- there were some standards that were a little bit different that, when they applied to have it designated, we had to do the process of waivers, and that came from the

80/20 share, to the 90/10 share, and so, i think that my assumption -- my sumption -- this was part of interstate 68 and this was at the request of maryland to have it be designated as part of it. we get those requests, the those are parts of the interstate system that are shielded, but they're not necessarily part. an example is alabama a few years ago. >> okay. and you just heard the administrative rule that doesn't require an act of congress? >> does not. they would need to come in and say, these are the design exceptions. some other elements that they might have had in there that our engineers would have to say, yes, this is why we would approve those exceptions. >> you have got to understand the concerns of uniformity, and i understand -- believe me, i'm not arguing -- fixes as fast as

possible -- i'm not arguing, whatever the cost is as we are trying to recoup -- as was mentioned by several people questioning -- insurance is not going to pay off overnight there's going to be arguments, there's going to be all of that. we're going to fight for that. we need a fix quickly. it is just other communities around the nation have issues that come up, and not having a set standard on how it is we respond and how we can get a response back to our home communities makes it very difficult when you do something that isn't normal, in this situation, as we just -- i appreciate that. with that, i yield back. >> the gentlemen yields back. i recognize mr. garcia for five minutes. >> thank you. madame chair, ranking members, this hearing, thank you to all of the witnesses. i want to echo the sentiment of other members who are remembering the tragic loss of life for the six workers. all a

of them, immigrants from mexico and central americans. all of them seeking a better life in this country, meeting a very tragic fate. so, as we rebuild the key bridge, we must also advocate for stronger workplace protections for all, including immigrant workers, and this er brings me my first question. administrator bhatt, the coast guard's testimony states that a construction worker was on the bridge at the time of collision, eight of them, and one worker was not able to run to safety. if there had been more time when the ships bost power and that was reported, and when the collision happened, is there a protocol in place for bridge worker evacuation in an event such as this collision? if so, can you describe it?

>> thank you, congas men, for the question and for your concern for the workers. obviously, you know, all work zones are in dangerac. we have rules in place for both the state or the city, you know, that is procuring the contract, and for the companies that are out there. i want to do for to others here but what i learned through our discussions is that there was a police officer attempting to reach me work crew on the bridge to evacuate them, but given the proximity of the ship, was not going to be able to make it to the crew before ab the bridge struck. >> do you believe the protocol is adequate? >> sir, i would need to think about that and consult with some of our experts. obviously, this was an unprecedented event.

so, i just want to evaluate that, get back to you. >> chair homendy? >> yeah. other bridge structures have advanced warning systems. we look at that as part of our investigation. i will just say, from the time the pilot's dispatcher called police for mdta and the bridge was ordered closed was 52 seconds. 52 seconds. that was the time -- it's almost impossible to get -- in that situation -- to get a longer time. if you look at the time from the blackout to the bridge strike, it was four minutes total. but i appreciate your st question, because it is really tragic what occurred. we want to prevent that from reoccurring. that is our whole mission, which is why we look at advanced warning systems as well. >> thank you for that. administrator bhatt, if you

could get back to me, i would greatly appreciate it. to vice admiral gautier, the dolly have been inspected by the coast guard six months prior to the incident with the key bridge. it is unusual that a major malfunction like this could occur with no previous indication of faulty systems after being cleared by an inspection of only 6 months prior. what are the requirements on foreign-owned vessels to report any malfunctions to the coast guard when operating at a u.s. port? >> the coast guard has a requirement for any vessel that suffers an issue to notify what we call a reportable marine casualty, and there are a variety of qualifications, sort of circumstances, by which you have the notify the coast guard of those casualties. >> thank you much. lastly, very briefly to all the panelists, would like to chime

in -- although the fts the investigation is ongoing, recommendations are for coming, what is needed from congress, if anything, to improve worker safety? >> i will speak first. it is critically important for us to have the full results of the investigation, i think, before we move ahead with any sort of implantation's based on those recommendations. i will say, the coast guard is conducting a marine board of investigation in coronation with ntsb for the investigation. if we find something in the near term that we think is important and urgent enough to do an advisory on, we will go ahead and do that. >> thank you. chair? >> sir, this could happen in any of your districts. right? so, i would say, where you have navigable waterways, whoever is owning -- i keep reiterating this -- if you own a bridge --

if a state owned a bridge or another entity owns a bridge, look at the current structure, do a risk assessment. do it now. you don't have to wait until we issue an urgent recommendation or come to the conclusion of our investigation. make sure you are ensuring safety for what is going through that bridge or in the navigable waterways now. >> thank you. i yield back, madame chair. thank you. >> the gentlemen yields back. the chair recognizes mr. westermann for five minutes. >> thank you, manager, witnesses. my first questions will be for the coast guard and the ntsb. obviously, everybody -- just about -- has offered their condolences to the families, people who lost their lives, but i'm thinking, if i were a family member, i would want a lot more than condolences. i would have questions i wanted answered. the first question is why. i think, from the information we have received so far, the explanation would be we have

had vulnerable infrastructure, and we had a ship that lost power, but i think there's a deeper question as to why, and also what are we going to do about that so that it doesn't -- we don't get a repeat incident? if the ship had a tug escort, would it have hit the bridge if it lost power? >> we are looking into that as part of our investigation. i can't answer that right now. it is a question that we have, but it is something we are delving into. >> the same for the coast guard. we don't know whether there was sufficient time to have made a difference, or whether it would have added to the casualty or not. >> i hope that's something that you are looking into and looking at other places around the country where these large ships are passing by vulnerable infrastructure without -- mr. graves talked about -- the ship

in new orleans, and my understanding, all those ships down there now have tug exports -- escorts. mr. bhatt, you are here to discuss the need for a massive bridge reconstruction with a years long effort and billions of dollars from the american taxpayer. meanwhile, those very taxpayers have been waiting over two years for fsw to perform repairs to a wsdot railroad in franklin county, arkansas in my district. this row provides access to service concessionary facilities, not to mention critical pastures for emergency services in the area. the project has already been funded, but is apparently so tied up in red tape that my office can't even get a clear answer from your agency on when the wash out will be fielded. if fhwa is unable to

reconstruct a gravel road within years, why should we trust your county with funding for billions of dollars at this magnitude? >> thank you, congas men. i am happy to go back and take a look and figure out exactly what is going on with that project and report back to your office. >> thank you. i guess this would be for the court, for mr. bhatt. but there is an issue that happened in floyd bennett field, which is a national park service facility in new york city. you may ask what in the world does that have to do with this project. i will tell you what it has to do. this administration used alternative arrangements to waive every environmental regulation in the park service to build the migrant camp, and they did that in less than two weeks. they waived all of those regulations. i'm wondering if the administration has the intent to use alternative arrangements,

not just ces, but alternative arrangements to repair the bridge, which is obviously very viable infrastructure? >> sir, we are in close coronation maryland d.o.t. we are not going to waive "chicoro for, but a strong likelihood of a categorical exclusion. we are replacing the bridge in relatively the same footprint that existed before. >> does the administration have the legal authority to waive "chicoro for for all arrangements to go beyond the ce? the answer is, yes, and they can do that, and it is amazing to me that they would do it on a park service facility that 1 million visitors in new york city use to build the migrant camp, yet that doesn't seem to be an option on the table to rebuild this model piece of infrastructure, and i hope the administration would not only

afford this same luxury to critical for structure, but also to a lot of smaller projects around the country that get tied up in the process when the administration has full authority to do that. thank you, madame chair. i yield back. >> the gentlemen yields back. i recognize five minutes for questions, mr. stanton. >> thank you, madame chair, thank you to each of the witnesses for your hard work and responding to this article emergency in our country, and like every member of this committee, i send my deepest condolences to the families of the six human beings, workers lost their lives, as a result da of this tragic incident. when the dolly crashed into the francis scott key bridge in maryland, we saw agencies are presented here today jump into action , but the road to rebuil

is long and requires coronation between our local, state, and federal governments. as a former mayor myself, i understand how critical intergovernmental cooperation is for efficiency and speedy results. administrator bhatt, it is my understanding, one of the ways for the federal highway administration responded to the disaster was by reclassifying the bridge as an interstate. tell us more about the purpose of that reclassification and how that will help with speedy bridge repair. >> thank you for the question, congas men. we received the request from maryland d.o.t. shortly after the bridge disaster to reclassify so, we went through the usual process we would do for any state d.o.t. asking to come in. wa i think our sentient we had was that it was part of the interstate, and so it was on maps that way. going back, the difference will be that, instead of being part of the nhs, we will now

officially have it as part of the interstate from an 80/20 2a 90/10. >> that is great. another important take on the onset of the disaster was the quick release of emergency relief program funds, reimbursable program, as i understand it was $60 million released in march, a sizable amount. how is that $60 million number decided? >> thank you, congas men. so, we have been in close contact with maryland d.o.t. from the early hours, and so, i think this is a great example of the quick release funding being put to work and the contractor could mobilize very quickly, had cranes in the area, and all the army corps was focused on the navigable channel, the $60 million is helping to clear record simultaneously from the nonnavigable waterways. >> obviously, the cost would ben significant, above and beyond the initial amount. that was the role the emergency relief program will play in the additional funds for bridge repair, and any other federal

highways programs that will likely need to be utilized in this important work. >> so, as of this thank you, congas men -- for some the questions that have come in -- the first 270 days, the emergency repair work is funded at 100, the longer-term permanent repair work is funded at 90/10, traditionally through this program. the initial assessment is about 1 7 $1.9 billion for the bridge, and a 4-year construction. that is that critical piece, where maryland will have the certainty that federal funding will be available so that they can move forward with their procurement. >> that is great. lastly, it is my stating that one the primary roles of the federal highway administration, currently, is also get technical assistance to the maryland department of transportation. is there anything you can share with us today regarding those conversations as the federal partners to maryland d.o.t.?

>> thank you. congas men, i want to recognize the federal highway staff that have been on-site and in close coronation, both in maryland and in headquarters. so, we are meeting with them on the emergency work, on getting the e.r. funding on the procurement on the element of the bridge design that will be out there. so, it is a really strong partnership that exists. >> appreciate the work of yourself and nha, all the other agencies represented today. it is critical that we get the bridge rebuilt as soon as possible. not only for the city of baltimore, state of maryland, but the entire economy of the united states of america. thank you for the work you have already done and the work you will do on this important, important project. thank you. i yield back. >> thank you for the gentlemen yields back. i recognize five minutes a

question for mr. n.e.o.. >> thank you co-chairwoman. mr. "uss chicoro" three, would this be an accurate way to categorize you? you are in charge of electing the checks , the future project? >> sorry, i am in charge of collecting checks for the future project? >> money. you are in charge of getting money for the project? >> yes. >> have you received any money from any insurer yet? >> no, sir. >> which insurers have you sought monies from? >> to be clear, the insurance policy we are talking about is an insurance policy for the maryland department of transportation. so, we're working with maryland d.o.t. to work through the elements of that insurance policy. >> nothing for any insurance policy for the grace ocean private ltd? >> so, the department of justice is leading efforts around this for the efforts of the united states -- to recover the funds. that is not a federal highway function.

>> nothing, also, for you, in terms of requesting anything from insurers, of course, chartered that vessel from grace? >> no, sir, the federal highway administration rule on this is the debris removal of the nonnavigable waterway, and then working with maryland d.o.t. to rebuild the bridge. we will take back any insurance funds that come in and reimburse the e.r. program. >> what has department of of justice told you, to this point, about have the requested monies from any of those insurers or any other companies? >> sir, i would not be able to comment on department of justice's efforts. i am just not aware. >> they haven't had any contact with you about requesting monies, any comment about your involvement, your conversation, not necessarily with have done? >> specifically, sir, the only email i have received is from d.o.t. to preserve all of my emails for upcoming, likely years-long litigation. >> why is it a likely years

long litigation? >> again, sir, i can only speak to my, you know, efforts around bridge building and litigation that occurs when there's claims between a contractor and state where they don't feel that the product meets -- that can take h years -- so billions of dollars in international maritime law, i can only assume, will be a fairly lengthy process. >> none of us are naove enough to say that insurance companies readily come out and offer us large pails for things that are injured. would be naove to say that. it is is not the state of the world. in the midst of this catastrophe, i guess, a great word to categorize it, have you seen anything or heard anything from doj about these insurance companies offering anything or trying to say that they do not have liability for this?

>> sir, i would need to come back to you. i would have to check with our chief counsel, general counsel at d.o.t., and other agencies, but i'm happy to come back on that. >> i appreciate that. th have you heard anything about whether they have already executed any type of business interruption insurance for the vessel that is not in use right now? >> sir, i am not aware of that. >> okay. a lot of these questions -- again, i appreciate you listening to -- you don't have the answers for them up his madame chair woman, i would encourage this committee to get some of the other entities in here since we're talking significantly across both sides of the aisle about the funding for this bridge, the timing for it, the repairs of this bridge, you know, peripheral things to that that we bring in the insurance companies for conversation, the shipping companies for rescission about this as well. i would hope that we would do that in the next, maybe, next week that we're in session, but

certainly, it is sensible that we speak to you all about this, but it is also sensible that we but it is also sensible that we involved in this as well. i thank you for your testimony and the time. i yield back. >> thank you. the gentlemen yields back. i now recognize five questioning minutes for mr. fushi. >> thank you to the chairs for holding this hearing and the witnesses for meeting with us today.the tragic events that took place in the early morning hours of tuesday, march 26th, were a tragedy not simply for baltimore or maryland, but for the nation. i join my colleagues in mourning the 6 lives lost in this catastrophic accident. while i have been heartened by the response of the baltimore community who have, at last count, already been raised over $1/2 million to support the families of the key bridge victims, it is the responsibility of both the

federal government and the private sector to ensure something like this never happens again, which is at least , in part, why we are here today. the biden administration, the state of maryland, the coast guard, the u.s. army corps of engineers, among others, have taken amendable initiative and swift action in responding to this crisis. something that has been . highlighted by the witnesses here today. i want to thank all of you for being here. i know your time is valuable, especially in the midst of an ongoing situation like this. to my colleagues, we greatly appreciate your time and your testimonies. i think most of us on this, the understand that this matter is going to require expeditious by partisan support in congress. if we wish to mitigate, at best, we can get to the economic and supply-chain ripple effects of the fsk bridge collapse. however, i think it is worth noting that there are also

significant road safety implications here, as well as even further that underscore this need for congressional support. with the port no longer at full capacity, commercial trucks are being forced to take roads through residential areas that aren't equipped for that kind of traffic. chairwoman homendy and administrator bhatt, and either of you speak to the traffic safety issues for other vehicles on the roads, to pedestrians, or to the residential road infrastructurei that have either already merged as a result of the fsk bridge closure, or are at risk of emerging should access to the port remain limited? >> thank you, congresswoman. thank you for noting the traffic impacts. in the interest of time, i would highlight the hazmat traffic, you know, the hazmat materials allowed in the

tunnels through baltimore. so, that was what are the critical elements of the francis scott key bridge, was to provide hazmat material to move around. now, what is happening, they're rerouting around the north side of 675 through neighborhoods, and it is suboptimal rerouting perspective.ct that is is one example, and as you mentioned, there are trucks and other commercial vehicles and higher levels of traffic working their way through residential areas now as well. >> this is an issue i would typically differ to federal highways, just because we're just focused on the investigation itself. so, thank you. >> thank you. i, like many of my colleagues, have been particularly concerned about the regional implications on an employment at the bridge collapse and reduction of port operations are having on the surrounding community. as the state of maryland has estimated that 270,000 jobs

will ultimately be impacted. even so, i have been especiallyi encouraged by the efforts thus far of the biden administration to support the plethora of poorly displaced workers who have had their employment either directly or indirectly impacted since the events of march 26. for instance, the administration formed an initial chart of $3.5 million to the region via the dislocated workers grant program back in april to support temporary cleanup and recovery employment opportunities for those who have lost their jobs due to the fsk bridge incident with more bridge incident with more support funds on the way. kathleen barron -- vice admiral gautier, can you speak to the efforts of the coast guard and the army corps respectively about the ongoing efforts to restore services and access to the port given the widespread

ramifications such efforts will have unemployment in the region. >> let me go first, i want to do a shout out to the army corps of engineers. the depth of the channel has been restored to 48 of 50 feet. it is narrower than what it typically is, but is sufficient for coast guard to put one way vessel and tug escort controls to get traffic in and out. we have seen over 35 deep draft vessels that have transited co over 300 smaller barges and other things have been able to transit in and out. i think we are seeing is the system is restoring itself to normal functions well we work together in unified command to make sure the full channel width and depth is restored. >> working with the port and state of maryland, opening up as many alternate channels as we could, small craft and we sexily -- successfully got to

larger and larger craft. we were able to get a 35, now 48 foot channel to get to the car carriers moving and we remain to getting the full channel open by the end of the week. >> that is my time. i guild. >> thank you. the gentle lady yields back and i recognize five minutes of questioning. >> thank you. i want to offer my condolences to the families who lost loved ones in this disaster. g i want to thank our witness is not just for being here, but also for the tireless work that you and your agencies have done in putting into the recovery efforts but also the investigative matters you have undertaken as we look into this disaster even deeper. thank you. before i get to the questions about the topic at hand, dr. , -- administrator bhatt, you may recall that we discussed the

programs that have a combined 7.5 billion dollars at their disposal to build electric vehicle charging stations. as of the december hearing, they had but one charging station online in two years. wi i asked you how many charging stations you expect the programs would bring online in 2024, you promised to follow up with a "very specific number." but in march you sent every response that contained no specific number and noted hundreds of millions of dollars have gone out to build 7500 ports. but there was no indication as to how many, if any, of those would be brought online this year. this far in 2024 responsible for six charging stations, again roughly $7.5 billion at its disposal. there doesn't appear to be any public information for those completed, for the completed cfi chargers. administrator bhatt, i want to

give you one more chance here, how many more cfi funding change -- charging stations do you expect to be brought online for this year? >> thank you for the follow-up. >> thank you for the follow-up. state d.o.t. partners and cities across the nation. we are also working closely with the joint office between the department of energy and department of transportation. since that time there have been several states that have brought on nevi chargers. vermont, ohio, kentucky, utah is going to have their first. so there are dozens, and i will get you the specific number, dozens that we are dissipating coming online in the next couple months. 35 of those states have solicitations out. and specifically on cfi, on january 5 we rolled out $623 million in grants in january. ft. cfi nationwide. those will -- we are working u with grant agreements to get

those built this year. >> how many will be brought online this year. a ballpark number. >> probably in the 100s to 1000 range this year. again, i want to differentiate between between dfc chargers and the level ii chargers that are are obviously replacing one's existing on the network. >> thank you for that. i want to make sure as we go through the balance of the year we stay in touch on this topic. again, we have allocated $7.5 million and as of a few months ago, a month ago we were at a total chargers. we want to make sure the money that has been provided by this congress has been spent wisely. i want to build on with the redesignation of the bridge is an interstate system.

i share his sentiments that we should get this bridge rebuilt quickly, i think we should also be mindful of a new precedence we set and establish as we go through this whole process. you mentioned the alabama highway was redesignated as part of the interstate system, how long did that process take from application to approval? >> >> i'd have to go back on the exact dates. probably a few weeks. and actually to be clear, i think that was changing the mainline of the interstate with the bypass. maybe not exactly apples to apples. >> marilyn's request to redesignate this is an an interstate was made after the collect, is that correct? >> yes. >> does your agency have the authority to retroactively designate damage or destroy the infrastructure as part of the interstate system? >> sir, i would have to clarify on our exact authority and the

retroactive piece. i know we received the request after the incident and we went to our typical process and designated it as part of the interstate. >> is addressing -- is there any precedent? >> i would have to come back to you on that. i am not aware. >> i would very much like to know if your agency was within t its authority to retroactively designate this as an interstate as opposed to its former designation as part of the state highway system. . thank you. with that, madam chair, i guild back. >> thank you. the gentleman yields back in a recognize five minutes for questions. >> thank you. thank you to all the witnesses, horrible event. i'm going to direct this question to you, in 2007, near

the district i represent in the bay area there was a similar incident with the san francisco bay bridge. the second busiest toll bridge after the george washington bridge in the u.s. is interstate 80. what happened there was the fender system in california kept the bridge from being damaged. but still had to be shut down so you and caltrans could go through and make sure it was safe, it is seismically vulnerable. what we do in cases like that, in 2007, lessons learned are looked at and sort of consistent with the other questions, irrespective of whether it is part of the federal highway system? and just making sure state departments of transportation, that they know what the best practices are for their area. >> for our role as part of an investigation agency we continue to share lessons learned as part of any investigation including with state departments of transportation. certainly we have conducted a number of investigations about these vessel strikes on bridges.

and, hampshire those lessons learned and continue to do so. and continue to advocate, even for those close unacceptable. i will say the federal highway administration has close contact with her state partners to continue to highlight safety issues and risk assessment as well. >> vice admiral, this happened very close to your admiral, home on treasure island, in that instance, they were required to have pilots come ine oakland is the fourth busiest port in the u.s. a lot of traffic goes through there. but again, we have a lot of bridges in the bay bridge closest to it. a lot of the operations of that port they work closely with the coast guard to make sure that these, the management of the transportation system works and it works properly in terms of the whole transportation system. in this case, heavily traveled bridge. how does your department and

the coast guard coordinate again on your experience around the world and how to make sure that the structures one by state transportation agencies, particularly if it's not part of the interstate, has the best information about the dangers of marine traffic, commercial marine traffic? >> >> thank you. i am familiar with that incident you're referring too. i have many years of operations in the bay area. we are doing a marine board of investigation, like we did there, we do an investigation, have findings of fact and then recommend and take remedial actions based on that. i think we are talking about here is a little different in terms of the system in terms as you mentioned it. the coast guard does have a set of tools, risk management tools that we get together with stakeholders in any given port to evaluate the totality of the risk if something changes.

like if a channel becomes deeper or for new bridge gets built and so on. when it comes to mind, port one away risk assessment. one was done in baltimore but not since 2001. as a result of this incident, the coast guard is initiating a board of inquiry under my signature which will look at how the coast guard does is assessments, how recent they are in the ports around the country, and to examine the top 10 ports for some lessons learned including bridge rendering systems, hazards of navigation and so on, together with stakeholders so we can draw some conclusions and then move out with a refined toolkit to other ports around the country. >> coming back to jennifer homendy, the most recent report about human error on the boat, it reminds me of some of our discussions about the aviation industry, there is a lot of pressure on these deputies to

move product and show profit. are you concerned with the same thing that we are not providing oversight to the people running the ships and system and they are being overworked so they are missing things, whether it's people, mechanics repairing the ships or people operating the ships? >> with respect to what occurred import on march 26, there was routine maintenance going on. it was not something that stood out -- i mean there is human error in everything we do. routine maintenance, if we are working on our cars in our garage, sometimes we make mistakes. in this case a damper was closed. and engine failed. you know, in these situations, the crew took action to get everything back up and running.

on the next day they were on a different set of breakers and different transformer. we will look at that as part of the investigation including anyn sort of human error that occurred on the 25th or 26th. >> i wasn't inferring blame on the cruise part, just pressure on the company to make profits. thank you, madam chair. >> thank you. the gentleman yields in a recognize five minutes for questions. >> thank you, madam chair. i appreciate the panelists coming here. i've been looking for to this hearing on this topic. we have a lot of bridge history in this country, especially in recent years. expediting the reconstruction of this is critical. i am sure the baltimore eastern seaboard, as it would be in any area of the country with one

like that. i am especially interested in, what is being done, and anyone on the panel can weigh in, to it truly expedite this process. when you read about it, you get information about it, it sounds like there are a lot of preliminaries that are, of course necessary with the demolition of the old bridge and such, but where i get frustrated is the bog down studies and nepa and things of that nature with an already existing structure. this is not a pristine area. what is being done to make a concurrent effort to do that stuff and get categorical exclusions, but also at the same time be moving forward as quickly as possible? some examples i have of successes, as mr. desaulnier alluded to, in california, there was the bay bridge, 1989 earthquake during the world series. you may remember.

a 250 ton chunk of that collapsed. i'm not sure how quickly they got it put back up. but it wasn't terribly long. when they put their minds to it. on the adverse side of that coin, you have replacement of the bay bridge took 24 years. in 1989 when you decided there was a problem with the bridge, it was decided, it wasn't completed until 2013. they started construction in 2002 completed in 2013. 11 your actual construction time. but a 24 year decision to actually get to completion. 1994 quick knockdown chunks of freeway in southern california and the initial estimates, i believe the time, by caltrans or others, was going to take three years. that put a giant crimp in movement and commerce in southern california.

so, the state and the governor, governor wilson, put out a call for shortening that timeline ne for basically three years to 140 days. one of the people involved was a company called cc myers construction company. they got it done not just in 140 days, but 66 days. with a large incentive, a large bonus possible. and then the macarthur in oakland, there was a problem there, i believe that was the fire. anyway, they got done in 27 days with a bonus involved as well with the cc myers company. unfortunately there out of business. mr. myers past. what can be done as far as incentives to actually speed up the process and that takes six years of paralysis of baltimore? but, set-aside bureaucracy and get it done in three, let's

say. i mean, realistically. anyone on the panel. >> congressman, thank you for your question and your examples that you provided. i would just say that we share your desire to be over the bridge as quickly as possible. i would say federal highways with maryland for the debris removal in april so they were waiting around for approval to get the debris out of the channel. we are working there. they are going to issue the rfp later this month. a contract by august which is in five months of the incident. and will hopefully be able to get a categorical exclusion. they're looking at a four-year construction time. the plan is for to be reopened in 2028. i don't know there is any other authority we can exert to get

that done faster. >> thank you. currently the movement of goods and commerce is very important. is there anybody, ms. jennifer homendy or others, maybe providing a waiver fort rucker hours? the going to have at least two or three hours of delays. is there a way truckers hours can be fixable for time of duty on that as well as the ability to use the tunnels that ordinarily trucks wouldn't be allowed to do? >> that would actually be under used to permit of transportation. they can make waiver requests for truck weight. and also, i'm not sure on that trucker hours. i will be happy to get back to you for the service hours. >> please look into that. if locals are saying that would be helpful in order to complete -- you wouldn't want to run out by two hours with the initial delay. also is there an issue of the

tunnel being available to all types of truck and other restrictions on certain types of trucking that could be helpful. could you have a waiver on maybe hazardous materials at a certain time of day that they could access for example? that maybe that can't otherwise. just looking for ways for flexibility. are those impossible thoughts quest best? >> the gentleman's time is expired. >> enhancer that? >> quickly. >> happy to follow up with your office on those questions. >> thank you. thank you madam chair. >> >> the gentleman yields back five minutes for questions. >> thank you, madam chair and thank you for convening this full committee hearing today. ot witnesses, think of your testimony and for working diligently to respond to the tragedy that struck the francis scott key bridge in march.

i join my colleagues expressing sympathy to the families who lost loved ones and lives as well as the greater baltimore and maryland community. coming from ohio, this is really important, we have the nation's second highest number of bridges. and this is a very important conversation for us, even just last week we presented to her county engineer and county executive nearly $10 million to replace a decommissioned a 70- year-old bridge that i identified. it's very important to ohio. i want to highlight something different. less than two months after this disaster struck in maryland, the majority on this committee was able to organize and hold a very timely and necessary hearing on the incident. this hearing and the witnesses today are perfect examples of the federal government fulfilling its role to support state and local efforts from

disasters with federal dollars and resources when they are needed most. this partnership between governing bodies is what i hope to see more of when i was elected to congress two years ago. you can understand my disappointment when in over a year since the train derailment devastated the community of east palestine and its way of life, the majority of the committee has not shown the same sense of urgency and i have yet to notice a hearing to discuss the state of real safety in ohio. what about the people of ohio who have been begging us, this question is to the majority, who have been begging us to do something on rail safety. even on the committee on transportation and infrastructure, the subcommittee on railroads, pipelines and hazardous material, the subcommittee would not hold a hearing to discuss the train derailment or the broader issue of rail safety getting democrats to host the roundtable without members of the majority present. will i don't represent east palestine, geographically, i am the only ohioan on this

committee. and they do not currently have a member of the house of representatives serving in congress. i have no problem speaking up for my neighbors to the east of me. since the derailment, two additional trains have derailed alone in ohio. and many others across the country. in the communities, local and state are still contaminated with waterways and airways across the nation. even more recently on march 2 of this year, three trains crashed into rio in eastern pennsylvania. leaving seven crewmembers injured with damages to equipment and tracks to be about $2.5 million. emergency personnel responded to the scene, found diesel fuel had spilled from under the train car, the contaminant booms were deployed to chemo -- clean it up before it worsened, it was by luck that a derailment of those three trains was not worse or anything like we sign eastern

ohio. it is very clear the issue of train derailment is not going away. and turning a blind eye to the issue is not the path that congress or this committee should take. americans across the political spectrum including the former president, the biden/harris administration, must have common sense rail safety legislation to prevent future train derailments and keep our community safe. i am proud e ohio democrats and republicans came together to introduce a bipartisan rail act last year. now it's time for the house republican majority to pass the rail act to protect ohioans and communities across the country. it would implement effective measures to keep communities safe, hold railroads accountable and ensure no americans living close to railroad tracks has to worry about the threat of a toxic train derailment in their backyard. finally, i would like to take a

moment to recognize the administration, our state and local partners in the state of ohio, and public servants who are continuously uplifting these in palestine even though this committee and the house of representatives has turned a blind eye and turned their back to the people of ohio. i would also like to take a moment to think the national transportation safety board and ms. jennifer homendy for the investigation into the cause of the norfolk southern train derailment and their work in investigating other accidents across the country with no doubt less people, fewer people than n you need. you have continue to fill in the gap where congress has ul refused to act, hold hearings in town halls with residents and providing information we could act the pond in the sense the people in administration and federal government to care about them even if this committee and this congress has refused to. i look forward to reviewing the board's findings and hopefully considering the recommendations as we look to rail safety and america. yo

thank you again for filling in the gaps where this community -- this committee has failed the people of east palestine. i yield back. >> the gentle lady yields back five minutes for questions. >> thank you, ms. homendy. it was just mentioned about the derailment and we have had other derailments that have made the news. overall wooded not be accurate to say that trains and ultimately, they are more safe, probably the safest mode of transportation for goods and services to be transported? >> for transportation, over 40,000 people are dying on our nation's road. as far as transporting goods and people rail is incredibly safe. it doesn't mean a tragedy doesn't occur and that is where we come in and investigate.

>> i think it would be dangerous if we started trying to steer activity away from rail because of these events. how many people -- >> i would like more things to go on rail. >> how many people died in east palestine? >> no one died. >> i think it's important to note that. while it might have been an environmental hazard, i think it is important to recognize the actual numbers. administrator bhatt, my question has to do with the francis scott key bridge which is been a subject for this entire hearing. as i understand there is about 15,000 jobs dependent upon the port and another 140,000 that link to the port. many of the individuals are worried they could lose their jobs because of no longer having access because of the collapse of the bridge. how long will it take to

construct the new bridge? >> thank you congressman for the question, yes, the port, and i think that is part of the critical efforts of the army corps and coast guard to get that open so the jobs can resume, i think the bridge itself, once the port reopens is on eight 2028 schedule, right now a preliminary estimate to give and get it back open. >> so a four-year estimate? what about the cost for the bridge? >> so, right now the way the rfp structured it would be a progressive design build, you go in and say this is the structure we need to build and then the benefits of progressive design build, they bring in different elements. that is why the cost of the schedule will update the different elements come in. right now is estimated up to $1.9 billion. >> have there been any

environmental concerns or any other issues we might be able to look to sign any waivers that might expedite the construction of the bridge? >> on the environmental side, through nepa, that's why we are likely to get to a categorical exclusion, we are putting a bridge back where one existed in the same footprint. we will work with the permitting agencies to make sure we are not missing anything. that is our plan. >> you served as the head of transportation for the state of colorado prior to this role. is that correct? >> and adele were. >> so in that role, what is your experience -- i know we had a new rule or executive order put under place that requires project labor agreements for anything i think about $35 million, is that the cost? >> i would have to come back on

the exact numbers. >> so in your experience, at both the state and federal level, requiring project labor agreements, visit improve the timeline of projects? >> sir, i would need to come back to you on the specific examples on the timeline. >> what about the cost? >> again, sir, i do want to speculate. i want to come back with specific data. >> i'm not trying to press on you, we had a great conversation before. but surely, you have enough experience to understand the distinction and difference between the costs of a project, whether or not a project labor agreement is required. >> the one project i would rs think about, it was not a pla that was required but we did do the first local hiring preference in denver when we replaced i-70 viaduct, it is similar to the administration here, trying to create good paying jobs and create a workforce for the future and ensure that we are building the

nation's infrastructure and building out -- >> if the taxpayer were going r to get more bang for their buck, or bridges and roads, it would be without a project labor agreement? >> again, i want to come back to you with the specific data. >> i think the answer is yes. i time has expired. >> thank you. the gentleman yields back. >> thank you, madam chair. quickly following up, i had the opportunity to visit the port of northbridge which runs through new jersey. part of the gateway program. to mark the 50% completion of the project. it is largely being built by labor. it is on time and on budget. i thank my friends and labor for the incredible work they do to develop and build our br critical infrastructure. i want to thank all of our witnesses today for their testimony. their ongoing work regarding the

francis scott key bridge collapse. i want to join my colleagues in recognizing the six workers who lost their lives during this tragic accident. immigrants were making not just our infrastructure stronger, but our nation stronger. my thoughts are with their families and the communities they were part of. new jersey's eighth congressional district is home to the largest port on the east coast following the collapse of the key bridge. the port is ready to accommodate additional vessels. this is thanks in large part to port authority of new york and new jersey and the dedicated teams, the operators of reports and incredible men and women who keep our region moving. administrator bhatt, the new bridge is built to current to design standards, can you describe how design standards have changed since the key bridge was built in 1977 and the challenges posed by increasingly large vessels calling on our ports? >> thank you, congressman, for the question. if you look at the bridge, a trust bridge made of steel and

that was the prevailing design at that time, when you look at many of those bridges that are being placed today, there being replaced by cable bridges for the most part. a lot of advantages from cross -- cost, the concrete sections to bring them into place, i think that is probably the likely design that will come forward. with regard to design standards, obviously there is vertical load and lateral load we have to account for. and then i think specifically with the francis scott key bridge brought forward and what we are going to be working closely with the chair we echo her call to any bridge owner to examine bridges right now is ns what is the appropriate level of protection we need to design so that we don't have another

similar situation. >> taking into consideration the size of the vessels, coming through the ports and channels, given that they have increased in size since 1977, that would be part of the analysis, is that correct? >> absolutely. yes. >> port infrastructure development program provides grants to support efforts to improve related infrastructure. to meet supply chain needs. between 2019 and 2023 the program received $9 billion in applications. but only received $2.25 billion in a preparations over five years of the structure and investment jobs act. administrator bhatt, should we be doing more to invest in infrastructure? >> thank you, representative. was a bunch of ports this week, i served on the board in wilmington, delaware. i would say there is a critical need for infrastructure everywhere including where you mentioned. >> how would increased appropriations to the program potentially help prevent future tragedies? >> sir, i would want to consult

with the folks to get you a specific answer to that question. >> i understand your limited today and what you can share regarding this particular incident. can you touch and what features may be a new and existing bridges to protect them from potential impacts like what we saw in baltimore? >> this is what we are looking at this part of our investigation. we are working with marilyn to evaluate her other bridges and then we are looking at other areas in the united states where bridge owners have improved bridge infrastructure after a vessel strike. including any sort of fender systems, protection fins, that is what we are looking at. we don't have recommendations today. i would stress that states and bridge owners should be evaluating, especially with older bridges, what is going through as far as navigable water ways, what is the risk and how should they address that?

>> a quick follow-up, do you have a sense of timing of when those recommendations might be made available? given the timely importance of making sure the existing infrastructure throughout the country is up to date? >> we often issue urgent safety recommendations and we may in this case decide to issue an urgent safety recommendation at any time before we issue a final report. we are aiming for 18 months on a final report. again, we may have updates to the investigation that we release and we may issue urgent safety recommendations as well. >> to ensure ispeople feels secure when crossing bridges. i go back. >> thank you, madam chair. thank you all for being here today. in i appreciate all of you and bu your hard work and dedication. vice admiral gautier, we have a county named after you but we

pronounce it differently in south mississippi. we will leave that to us. anyway, as you know, a few remaining united states shipbuilders are in my county and district. huntington. what can we do, what can be done to encourage the greater use of the united states flag vessels to ensure that ships coming through our ports are held to the highest mechanical standard? >> thanks, congressman. i think i might be named after somebody who grew up in that town. the coast guard works very hard to assure that with a number of foreign flag vessels that call in u.s. ports every single day, that we maintain an equivalent

level of safety. we do this through the international maritime organization. actually there meeting this week on a number of issues, emerging technologies. we have done things like worked on the standards of training, watch keeping and certification for all mariners, u.s. and international. we want to do this in a way that doesn't disadvantage u.s. mariners so we can have the equivalent levels the global shipping and global crews on vessels have to adhere to. >> additionally, do you think this incident could be a cause for recommending escorts of larger ships through channels and you think this incident could've been avoided? >> it may be. but we don't know yet. it is too early in the investigation to understand whether tugs would or would not have helped in this circumstance. although, what i will say is that there are some areas in some ports around the u.s. that have tug escort requirements . for a variety of reasons and they are all different. for example, the state of

california for tank vessels entering into the san francisco bay area, those determinations are typically made by harbor safety committees with all stakeholders getting together to understand the totality of risk. not just the coast guard. and then agreeing on what tug requirements may be particular to that area of risk. >> administrator bhatt, i noticed in d.o.t., fy2025, appropriations budget list, that there were no additional funds provided beyond the annual $100 million authorization in the emergency relief fund. given the backlog request and unmet needs, especially in mississippi, how do you anticipate filling the request for all highway projects and this bridge? >> thank you, congressman, for

that question. i know the omb director was part of the tour of the site a few weeks ago. i don't want to get ahead of the administration. but i believe generally speaking er backlog has been topped up through supplementals historically. i believe that may be part of the discussion. >> thank you. continuing with you, along with ensuring the process moves along quickly, how do you plan to coordinate with the state of maryland and other stakeholders to ensure the proper funds are obligated quickly? >> thank you, congressman. it is absolutely top of mind. having worked in the private sector i know projects on time and on budget are the target. an we are moving with great speed working" nation to make sure they're getting the timelines in an aggressive schedule as well. >> is been reportedly been the actions taken by the vessel and state police who took swift

action to minimize casualties. in the future how can we better improve the communication between vessels, people on the bridge and emergency responders? >> that is part of our investigation and we will look at that. it whiskey, when the pilots reached out to the dispatchers and the dispatchers called and dta police, it was a very quick notification to shut down operations on the bridge. and everyone involved in that, it was a heroic effort, certainly. we will look at that as part of our investigation to determine what should be the standard yi going forward. >> and thank you all again for being here today. madam chair, i yield back. >> thank you. >> some of my colleagues today have indicated their support for the concept of federal

monies being repaid through tolling on the bridge. i would associate myself with that concept and with interest in that concept. i think in general tolling uncritical infrastructure is an appropriate way to fund it in the long run. i would encourage the relevant agencies in congress to consider that. not just for this bridge but for all bridges going forward as we think about how to responsibly fund critical vi infrastructure and address the backlog. administrator bhatt, i appreciate your testimony and i appreciate also the unified response in baltimore the you have been part of. and concerned though, about the strain on the coast guard and whether that is going to further exacerbate services, challenges and operating within a budget and workforce deficit.

there will be downstream effects and other coast guard missions and stations. if the service does not receive additional resources from congress, what are the likely short and long-term consequences for operations in a place like massachusetts? >> rissman, as you know, we surge resources to the top priority moment, whether that be a bridge collapsed or hurricane response or search and rescue. but to your point, more often we do that and with insufficient budget, to make sure we can do things like recapitalize our assets and to close this urgent workforce gape we have in enlisted ranks. our ability to do that is going to be eroded over time. >> so articulate the trade-off we might have to make. what should congress understand about trade-offs that have to happen if you're not resourced appropriate league? >> take for example the 10% enlisted workforce shortfall. if we do not have the resourcing or, i'm sorry, the recruiting and retention capability within the coast guard in order to get

that back up to normal, then we are going to have to continue on doing the sorts of things we have done like not completely staffing certain stations around the country where there might be some redundancies. >> what does that mean for your mission? can you not do, for example, law enforcement for recreational boating? can you not do illegal fishery law enforcement? what mike it eroded without the resource? >> that's right. we have to make tough choices to deliberately back off of doing certain things we would normally do. like some recreational boating. like some fisheries law enforcement boardings. like some lower priority aids navigation around the country. >> good. i think it is important to be specific about the trade-offs. i want congress to understand that you can't get something for nothing. we have to fund the coast guard and the vital 11 missions.

i know you are also conducting atlantic coast access routes that he. one of the goals which is to reduce the risk of casualties and increase the vessel traffic on the coast. how is the coast guard reevaluating the study after the accident and how should they evaluate potential risk going forward? >> i think baltimore is a reminder of the consequences when you have large vessels and then you have a mishap and then you have medical infrastructure and we have results we have seen. we are doing in terms of port access and route studies is exactly to prevent those sorts of circumstances. as we know, there will be more fixed objects, like wind turbines, wind farms offshore, starting in new england and working down to other parts of the country, we need to have assurances that there are shipping lanes that will be free from the construction of offshore wind

farms so that maritime transportation can continue at low risk to collisions. >> i appreciate it and yield back. >> thank you. i recognize mr. williams for five minutes. i apologize for skipping you earlier. >> thank you for being here and for your expert testimony. i have read through the accident report such as it is. and would like to follow-up on some details of that. just to try to understand, and maybe, madam chair, start with you. do we know, i am sure we do, are we looking at the manufacturers of hr one the transformer, the control system, all those things that appear in the switchboard cabinet in your report? you have the inspector taping those shut. that we identified the manufacturer of all of those

components including the subassemblies and things inside? >> yeah, so we are currently working with the manufacturer of many of the components. they are party to our investigation. and have come to baltimore to work with us to do testing on board the vessel. our engineers are back on board the vessel today. >> i understand that hyundai would assemble the control system, the panel, if you will, like a panel shop would. but the individual components inside, whether that is a tlc or sensors, actuators, whatever those things are, are we looking all the way down into the components, the whole supply chain that made up those components? >> we are. >> when you represent the transformer, the integrated control and monitoring system,

you're saying all of that comes from hyundai? >> not every single feature or sensor comes from hyundai. but if we're looking at any sensors or pumps or any other component on the vessel, then we will work with whoever that manufacturer is. >> is there an investigation into cybersecurity being evaluated for all of these components? >> currently we have no evidence at this time to suggest this was a cybersecurity threat. it has been stated unified command that the coast guard and fbi also did not believe this was a cybersecurity issue. we have a memorandum of understanding with the fbi that if there is is any evidence of that, we have to turn this over immediately to them. >> is there a criminal investigation going on? >> i am aware that there is some work being done by the department of justice.

but that is not within the purview. >> in a cybersecurity or cyber attack, there's a lot of concern about embedded systems embedded into what is called a real-time operating system or inside the control logic or inside the control elements. that would require an enormous amount of sophisticated forensics to evaluate. which would require dismantling the whole switchboard and doing it component by component. a search. is that kind of investigation underway? >> our investigators have over 400 years of experience who are investigating this accident itself. they go where the evidence takes them. as far as anything the department of justice or fbi is doing, that is not something i can speak too. >> in terms of 400 years of experience, it's probably just the last five that are relevant

in terms of cybersecurity, particularly in industrial controls. >> my point though is they have expertise >> i understand your point and i have significant expertise as well. you know, the point of my question is, as we have seen in embedded systems and very integrated components from a wide variety of vendors, understanding the entire supply chain and understanding and evaluating things all the way down to the operating system or even the bios and other features deep in the system is critically important. as i read through the accident report, it is not clear to me that anyone knows why the breakers tripped, why the transformer tripped off-line. and it seems like until we know the origin of the actual accident, that all of these things should be taken as

likely or at least possible. do you agree? >> this is a preliminary report. we released yesterday was preliminary. we are still conducting our investigation and we go where the evidence takes us. >> and that includes a forensics on the actual components that are there, which would require significant disassembly and evaluation? in my opinion. >> we will follow the evidence. and anything security wise, if we find anything, we will turn it over immediately to the ti criminal authorities. >> thank you very much. i yield back. >> thank you. i recognize myself five minutes for questioning. you've all been sitting here for a long time. and you've been pretty thoroughly questioned. i just want to wrap up with, is there anything any of you want to highlight for your respective agencies that would be helpful to this committee that you haven't already covered? i will start with vice admiral

gautier and we will move down the line. >> congresswoman, a factual statement. i think this has been pretty thoroughly questioned. in terms -- i've been asked several questions in terms of un coast guard resourcing. i think it bears repeating from our perspective. we are incredibly proud of the folks in the field who have responded. they have done an amazing job with their counterparts to do this. we cannot guarantee over time that the coast guard is going to be able to perform at that level, whether that be a search and rescue case or a patrol in asia or patrolling for the potential for mass migration in the caribbean without substantial support and enduring support from congress and appropriations. in terms of recapitalizing our aging assets and improving our procurement construction, and improvement support from congress, things

that help the people in terms of training, that leads us to successful operations like this. i appreciate the opportunity to convey that to you. >> major gen. graham. >> thank you for that question and the opportunity to be here today. probably two points i'd like to wrap up with. we talked a lot about safety of the general public. i want to commend the teams on site from the coast guard to the port to the various agencies, knock on wood right now, it has been an amazingly safe operation. probably some of the riskiest diving operations you can have. divers going down water you cannot see to the end of your fingers with. we are guiding them by sonar. steel sticking out, and they did it amazingly safely. our commitment is to continue that safety record until the federal channel is completely cleared.

there was a lot of discussion on the resiliency of infrastructure. three weeks after barges berkeley on the ohio river near pittsburgh and they bounced off two of the infrastructure dams on the upper reaches of the ohio river. the infrastructure withstood those strikes because it was designed to stand those strikes. right now we are trying to stretch taxpayer dollars as far as we can and we are looking at some of the gates on those structures to see if we can go from steel to fiber reinforced polymers. one of the things we're taking a look at is to see, if we do build them from fiber reinforced polymer, will they withstand hard strikes and whatnot as well as steel does? all that is to make a shameless plug for research and development funding. agencies need to continue to advance the state of

engineering. thank you. >> shameless plug noted. administrator bhatt. >> thank you, madam chair. i would end where i started which is, i have been around number of these bridge disasters or disasters and just the confidence i feel that this response, whether the unified command, army corps, coast guard all the parts of you is deity, i feel like it's been an exemplary response and a message to send to the american people that when disaster strikes, the government is there working in close court nation with the private sector. i appreciate a lot of the questions from the majority around the funding of the bridge. i appreciate the concern for fully funding it, open to looking at the different methodologies they have brought forward.

i would just highlight from a full highway perspective that there is $3.7 billion including the bridges of unmet need across the country and states his -- is designated we want to follow the law. it doesn't matter the color of the state we're going to show up and make sure funding is available for er programs across the country. >> thank you. ms. homendy. >> let me think this committee on a bipartisan basis. you lead the effort to reauthorize ntsb to be part of reauthorization. thank you very much for that. you also led the way fully funding the ntsb along with e house appropriators for our request. fy24. we hope you will do the same for fy25. but, our fy24 funding came in a little lower, again, we fully appreciate it because it is higher than we received now. but if you just look at this

investigation, we have 12 people in our office of marine safety. they need an additional five, that doesn't include all the other modes within the ntsb the need people. and the supporting offices. as well as dealing with unfunded mandates, lab equipment and training needs. so, the $10.7 million we got in an increase in fy24 actually translated to a little over five because we had to take on a 5.2% pay raise. well-deserved. but we have to think about the impact on the smaller agencies. we have about five and we have to figure out, what 11 positions out of the hundreds ty can we fund? so, for the office of marine safety itself, 12 people on their staff, half of which are dedicated to this particular accident, and they have over 60 other cases.

and what happens is those get pushed a little bit so they can focus on the next major one. so any support you can provide for fy25 is appreciated. >> thank you. one more really quick question. major gen. graham, is there an updated timeline for when the channel open? >> our commitment is to have it fully open by the end of this month. sooner if possible. >> thank you. i am way over my time. but they gave me the gavel, nobody is stopping me. thank you. i yield back. are there any further questions for any members of the committee not been recognized? seeing then, that concludes our very first day. i would like to thank each of the witnesses for their testimony, this committee stands adjourned.

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