Four days after enactment of an $8-billion "fix" for the Highway Trust Fund, the Federal Highway Administration on Sept. 19 resumed its daily reimbursements to state transportation agencies for highway project obligations they incur, the Dept. of Transportation said.
The $8-billion infusion averted a threatened deficit at the end of September in the trust fund's highway account. US DOT Secretary Mary Peters on Sept. 5 had directed FHWA to slow down reimbursements, having the agency repay states' highway aid "invoices" once a week, instead of on its previous twice-a-day schedule. She also instructed FHWA to restrict repayments to the amount on hand in the highway account, which could have resulted in paying states only a percentage of the amount they requested.