Buckeye broadband supports cspan as a Public Service along with these other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. The chair of the National Transportation safety board and other officials involved with the investigation and cleanup of Baltimores Francis scott key bridge collapse were on capitol hill testifying in front of lawmakers. They outlined a timeline for reconstruction citing 2028 is the goal with a cost of 1. 7 billion. The hearing runs about three hours. We will call the committee to order. I have to ask unanimous commitment consent that the chairman be authorized to declare recess at any time. So ordered. Please email documents. At this point i will recognize myself for the purposes of an Opening Statement. We are here to discuss the initial federal response to the march 26 Early Morning incident involving the cargo vessel into the Francis Scott key bridge in baltimore, maryland which resulted in the subsequent collapse of the bridge. I want to acknowledge the six workers who sadly perished. On behalf of the committee i want to express our condolences and our prayers to the families and loved ones. On to express our appreciation for the harbor pilot and Transit Authority and Police Officers who saved countless lives by closing the bridge prior to the incident and all of the First Responders who were involved in that process. Went to commend federal, state and local officials working that night to clear the wreckage and debris and continuing that effort to reopen the shipping channels this committee continues to receive updates including those testifying here today. Hours after the collapse President Biden announced his intention for the federal government to pay for the initial cost of reconstructing the key bridge. The committee has received a letter officially requesting. I have personally spoken to governor moore about the request on a couple of occasions. On march 28 the state of maryland applied for the Emergency Relief Program. Within hours of receiving the application, the federal Highway Administration approve 60 million and Quick Release funding which it said represented 5 of the initial project cost. This is intended to assist with eligible repair work which includes emergency repairs needed to restore essential travel to minimize damage and to protect the remaining facilities as well as the permanent repairs necessary to restore the highways to the previous condition. They will reimbursed the state for the first 270 days. After the initial 270 days, states are reimbursed at 80 to 90 rate depending on the classification of the program of which the Program Provides flexibility for reimbursement up to 90 in some cases. The federal Highway Administration informed the committee they had designated a portion of i 695 april 29 meeting that marylands reimbursement rate will be guaranteed up to 90 . All that is to say is that while the president s request has been received and is under consideration, congress has roughly six months to act but before any cost share changes might occur. Despite the initial estimates reports indicate that the state of maryland estimates the bridge may cost between 1. 7 billion and 1. 9 billion. It is important that we have a firm estimate before we take any estimate on the cost sharing. We must make sure the government actively works to recover any money that is owed. That can help offset the bridge funding or can be used for the companies who rely or work on the Baltimore Harbor to make them whole. For those who wish to go see for themselves, the committee will continue to facilitate visits on a regular basis. Need to make sure we are not getting ahead of the facts and let the ntsb and other agencies complete investigations and as we continue to learn more we will make sure that members of congress have all of the Information Available to them. I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. I did talk to the governor this morning about the hearing coming up and he is pretty optimistic about the litigation moving forward. I mentioned that briefly in my Opening Statement but it sounded very interesting and promising. I will turn now to Ranking Member larsen. I want to thank Administration Officials for joining us to discuss the Francis Scott key bridge recovery effort. I want to share my thing but these with the families of the transportation workers who lost their lives while on the job maintaining this important piece of infrastructure. Safety workers, traveling public and the workers adjacent to that infrastructure. Significant global and shipping ramifications for roadway mobility in the midatlantic region. General graham i went to commend you and your team and leadership in your tireless efforts for the men and women under your command to safely remove debris and return the channel to the operations that currently exist under extremely challenging circumstances. The degree of difficulty became clear when i visited the site last month and i want to thank the coast guard and the core and the state partners for guiding many members of congress in our various trips to witness the damage. I look forward to hearing the latest updates today on the status of cleanup in the port of baltimore operations. And from congress is the full cost becomes more concrete. We are grateful the coast guard always does what it needs to get the job done. The service must be made whole. If not replenished the funding will affect planned maintenance once it is complete. These amounts were not sufficient to fund the response and now reprogramming the 20 million in unused funds to continue the work. This level of reprogramming is unprecedented getting the bridge out of the water that juggling will continue. Communicate to congress what your needs are early and often and to do so in partnership with the legislative branch. The Immediate Response i look forward to hearing about the timeline to replace the bridge. Congress established the Emergency Relief Program to provide for the reconstruction of highways and bridges in the event of a disaster. Congress understood that it cannot be made to cover for the unseen emergency loss of a disaster marilyn transportation officials estimate it will cost up to one point 9 billion to replace the bridge. There are number of estimates and it is a broad range. While they provided 60 million in er funds to date. That is a fraction of the total need. Traffic diversion has increased the vehicle crossings between fort mchenry and harper tunnels by 18 and Truck Drivers must 1025 miles to get to baltimore via alternate routes including communities that did not expect it. This committee has a role to help rebuild the harbor efficiently. I want to Welcome Back Committee chair congratulations on your reconfirmation. A thorough investigation of this catastrophe will help show how to prevent future issues, to save lives and protect Critical Infrastructure. I think the chair for calling this hearing today and i look forward to what you have to say. I ask unanimous consent of the witness is two full statement be included in the record. And that the hearing remain open until such time as the witnesses have prevent dish provided answers. I also ask unanimous consent of the record remain open for 15 days allowing for additional comments and information to be included in the record of todays hearing and without objection that is so ordered. Your written testimony has been included in the records to the committee and i ask that you try to limit your oral remarks to five minutes. With that you are recognized for five minutes. Thank you members of the committee. Thank you for your kind words about the post got coast guard in your opening remarks. The container ship dolly struck and collapsed the Francis Scott key bridge. Baltimore lost a landmark part of its skyline and they lost the blockage of the crucial waterway. At the 51 day point, over 61 tons of steel and concrete have been removed. Through limited Access Channel and 375 additional commercial and recreational vessels have used temporary Access Channels our report today is the unified command believes that the dali will be able to be refloated and removed. Countless steps have been completed without a single worker injury. These efforts were made possible through the effort of unified command, rapid mobilization of personnel and resources, strong coordination and partnerships. The coast guard, army corps of engineers, Maryland State Police trooper, maryland transportation authority, Maryland Department of the environment and the owners and operators of the dali have leveraged each others jurisdictions, authorities and capabilities to get to where we are today. The pup coast guard is proud to be part of this response. Our women and men serve on the front lines inextricably linked to our Maritime Transportation system. From the early hours of the search and rescue response to restoring vessel traffic. The coast guard brought authority to ensure the safety and stewardship of our waterways. We also successful partnerships and continuously operating and cordoning with state and local industry partners. One prime example is the fantastic work on the quick notification by the pilots to the mta dispatch which inevitably saved countless numbers of lives. Unified command remained sharply focused. Her highest level of marine casualty investigation to determine the incidents causal factors and supporting the elements of preventative recommendations. Our investigation is in cooperation with the ntsb which is taken the lead on the investigation and the coast guard investigation is moving concurrently and separately from the department of justices criminal investigation. While we look forward to the results, it is evident looking more broadly that the size and complexity of ships has grown over the years placing greater demand on our marine transportation infrastructure that may not have kept place with the increased risks that these vessels posed. It is time for us to more broadly understand these risks. I will be convening a nationwide board of inquiry led by my assistant rear admiral wayne. The purpose will be to assess the efficacy of the coast guards suite of Risk Management tools and to evaluate how effectively they have been used to establish a holistic National Level approach to develop risk profiles and to find ways to address vulnerabilities and to propose actions to reduce the risk of major incidents. This is a necessary step to bolster our resiliency into ensure the safe and secure flow of commerce on our waves. Thank you for this opportunity and the enduring support of the postcard coast guard and i look forward to your questions. Chairman grace, members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to testify before you to discuss the Emergency Response by the u. S. Army corps of engineers to the collapse of the Francis Scott key bridge. Please allow me to begin today by offering heartfelt condolences to the families of the six individuals lost in the tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them. Soon after the tragic event occurred marilyn governor wes moore declared a state of emergency in the activated the Emergency Operations center. Our state of the art survey vessels were deployed to support the initial rescue dive operations. The army corps joined a multiagency effort to form unified command. I have been in a good many disaster responses in this unified command team is one of the best i have ever seen. Clearing the wreckage from the channel was the top priority. We needed three things to execute the mission, authority, funding and the right capacity. We use the authority for the Baltimore Harbor and channels project. That channel was fully blocked by the wreckage of the key bridge. We used available funding for fy 23 and fy 24 for that project. The army corps has not used this emergency reProgramming Authority at this scale for over 15 years. The third thing we needed was contracting capacity. The army corps entered a standard Interagency Agreement led by captain sal suarez and paul hankins, a true worldclass professional. They had a number of contacting tools that give us access to superb salvaging companies. I last worked with soup salvage in 2022 during the Hurricane Ian response in central florida. They have helped us pump the upper Kissimmee River backwards saving over 12,000 home south of orlando they deliver outstanding results. With these elements in place we embarked on the complex task to determine how to clear the 15,000 tons of concrete, asphalt and steel. For context that is 200 statues of liberty of material. The army corps in collaboration with our partners developed ambitious but feasible timelines. The plan was to initially clear a 35 foot deep channel and to restore the full channel by the end of may. The knitted Access Channel was open to oneway vehicle the limited Access Channel was open to oneway vehicle traffic. To open a full channel we first had to execute the most difficult task, removing the section of the bridge that had collapsed onto the bow of the dali. The Team Successfully used demolitions to cut the bridge away from the ship. This will facilitate the removal of the remaining wreckage from the river. We opened a full channel by the end of may. We are tremendously proud to be part of the stellar unified team that was mentioned earlier safely removing the bridge wreckage from the federal channel allowing the port of baltimore to resume use of the channel. Thank you chairman grace, Ranking Member larsen and members of the committee. Thank you. You are recognized for five minutes. Thank you chairman graves, Ranking Member larsen and members of the committee. The collapse of the Francis Scott key bridge on march 26 was a tragic event for baltimore, maryland and the entire nation. We must not lose sight of the devastating impact this tragedy has had on the victims and their families. The victims of fathers, friends and members of the communities. We will always honor these individuals will working to strengthen our systems. I want to thank our administrators who work quickly to save lives. While i have been engaged in a number of bridge related incidents in my career i have never seen never seen anything at this scale. It is a Monumental Task to clean up the site but as a peer today as i appear today, i have great confidence in our team to respond to calamity. The federal Highway Administration mobilized internally across multiple offices and externally with local, state and federal partners. President biden has been clear in the administrations commitment to reconstruct the bridge. Undersecretary buttigiegs leadership and the hoa is actively coordinating with other departments and offices within the Maryland Department of transportation, the maryland state authority, u. S. Coast guard, city of baltimore, u. S. Army corps of engineers and others to mitigate supply chain impacts, managed traffic and reconstruct the bridge. Theyre actively supporting the safety boards investigation of the collapse. They have been in collect in direct communication with mdot and is committed to supporting these efforts so that the bridge can be reconstructed as quickly and safely as possible. Safely as possible. Its critical that we reconstruct the vital connection for people it is critical that we ensure the core doors open, operational and safe for the public. On march 28, within hours of receiving the request for funding assistance, fhwa announced the Immediate Availability and Quick ReleaseEmergency Funds. These funds serve as a down payment toward initial costs, additional emergency relief funding will be made available as work continues. The administration is asking congress to join it in demonstrating a commitment to Recovery Efforts by authorizing a 100 federal cost share the bridge consistent with catastrophic bridge collapses. Fhwa continues to provide wide range and Technical Assistance to maryland d. O. T. Providing procurement for debris removal to reconstruct the bridge quickly and safely. Fhwa is also working to ensure that the new bridge will be dealt to current Design Standards in accordance with all applicable federal laws. On march 26, 2024, the day of the collapse fhwa met with transportation liaisons from the u. S. Army corps of engineers, coast guard, fish and wildlife, National Oceanic and atmospheric administration,