On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Public Law 117-58, also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”) and herein referred to as “BIL,” was signed into law. The bill provides $550 billion over fiscal years 2022 through 2026 in new Federal investment in infrastructure, including in roads, bridges, and mass transit, water infrastructure, resilience, and broadband.
Section 11123 – Wildlife Crossing Safety, lays out a series of activities aimed at reducing wildlife vehicle collisions on America’s roadways. The section is broken into two parts: §171 Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program which includes a grant program and annual Report to Congress, and §172 Wildlife Vehicle Collision Reduction and Habitat Connectivity Improvement which includes a study (building off the 2008 study), workforce development and training, standardization of wildlife collision and carcass data, national threshold guidance, amendments to wildlife crossing standards, and amendments to Title 23.
Through this poster, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), will provide updates on its implementation activities for Section 11123. FHWA anticipates that as of June 2023, the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the grant program will have been released, and activities relative §172 will be well underway. The poster will include a passive feedback opportunity, through the use of stickering, or other polling to give viewers the opportunity to provide additional information that may inform this effort.