FHWA releases federal aid obligation authority redistribution totaling $2.1 billion

A total of $2.1 billion in increased obligation authority was made available to states for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced its redistribution of FY 2006 obligation authority in a notice dated Sept. 7, but it was not released until Tuesday, Sept. 12.

FHWA division administrators are to advise states to use this obligation authority by Sept. 27. The states had requested a total of $10.9 billion in additional obligation authority for FY 2006.

The bulk of this larger-than-expected redistribution comes from discretionary programs that were not awarded this fiscal year. Since the contract authority for these programs carries over to FY 2007, it will likely result in a corresponding reduction in obligation authority distributed to the states for the coming fiscal year.