S 3556 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Wildlife Crossings Program Reauthorization Act of 2025
To reauthorize and improve the wildlife crossings program, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill reauthorizes and converts the wildlife crossings pilot program to a permanent program under title 23, United States Code, authorizing $100 million per year from the Highway Trust Fund for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The bill increases the federal share of wildlife crossing project costs to 90 percent for small, rural, or disadvantaged communities, and allows the Secretary to increase it to 100 percent in cases of significant financial hardship. The bill allows up to 0.5 percent of program funds to be used for tribal and technical assistance to help eligible entities access funding efficiently, and allows the Secretary to retain up to 0.5 percent for administering grants and reviewing applications.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
5 cosponsors
- Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND)
- Sen. Curtis, John R. [R-UT] (R-UT)
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA)
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA)
Actions (2)
- Dec 17, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. · senate
- Dec 17, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 17, 2025
Ms. Alsobrooks (for herself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
A BILL
To reauthorize and improve the wildlife crossings program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Wildlife Crossings Program Reauthorization Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. WILDLIFE CROSSINGS PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.—
(1) In general.—There is authorized to be appropriated out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for the wildlife crossings program under section 171 of title 23, United States Code, $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
(2) Availability.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts made available under paragraph (1) shall be available until expended.
(b) Wildlife Crossings Program.—
(1) In general.—Section 171 of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(A) in the section heading, by striking “pilot”;
(B) by striking “pilot” each place it appears;
(C) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as subsections (k) and (l), respectively; and
(D) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
“(h) Federal Share for Small, Rural, and Disadvantaged Communities.—
“(1) In general.—Subject to paragraph (2), in the case of a grant under the program provided to an eligible entity for the benefit of a small, rural, or disadvantaged community, the Federal share of the cost of the project shall be 90 percent.
“(2) Waiver.—The Secretary may increase the Federal share under paragraph (1) to 100 percent if the Secretary determines that the eligible entity is unable to pay, or would experience significant financial hardship if required to pay, the non- Federal share.
“(i) Tribal Technical Assistance.—
“(1) In general.—The Secretary may use an amount equal to not more than 0.5 percent of the amounts made available to carry out the program for each fiscal year to improve the ability of eligible entities described in subsection (c)(6) to access funding for projects under the program in an efficient and expeditious manner by providing to those entities application assistance, technical assistance, and assistance in reducing the period of time between the selection of the project and the obligation of funds for the project.
“(2) Use of funds.—Amounts used under paragraph (1) may be expended—
“(A) by the Secretary; or
“(B) through contracts with—
“(i) a Federal, Tribal, regional, or State government entity;
“(ii) a private entity; or
“(iii) a nonprofit entity.
“(j) Grant Administration.—The Secretary may retain not more than a total of 0.5 percent of the amounts made available to carry out the program for each fiscal year—
“(1) to review applications for grants under the program;
“(2) to obligate and administer grant awards selected under the program; and
“(3) to carry out the requirements of—
“(A) section 172; and
“(B) subsections (b)(6) and (i)(3) of section 144.”.
(2) Clerical amendment.—The analysis for chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 171 and inserting the following:
“171. Wildlife crossings program.”. <all>
Comments