Division C — SURFACE TRANSPORTATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2026
Division Overview
Overview
Division C is the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2026. It is a short-term extension of federal highway, transit, and related surface transportation programs—not a new multi-year transportation law and not a division that lists new dollar line items. It keeps existing program rules in place from October 1, 2026, through December 11, 2026, and authorizes a pro-rated slice of fiscal year 2026 funding so those programs do not shut off when current authority expires on September 30, 2026.
Total Spending
No total dollar amount appears in this division. Funding is set as an “extension fraction” of each program’s fiscal year 2026 authorization: the number of days in the extension period divided by 365.
The extension period runs from October 1, 2026, through December 11, 2026 (72 days if both dates are counted). That fraction is 72/365, or about 19.7 percent of a full year. Actual dollars depend on the fiscal year 2026 authorizations in earlier laws (including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), which are not restated here.
Key Funding Areas
- Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund: For each highway program funded from this account in fiscal year 2026, fiscal year 2027 authority equals the extension fraction of the fiscal year 2026 amount. Money is distributed and limited the same way as in fiscal year 2026.
- Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund: Same pro-rated treatment for each transit program funded from this account in fiscal year 2026.
- General-fund surface transportation programs: For programs authorized outside the Highway Trust Fund, the division authorizes not less than the extension fraction of the fiscal year 2026 amount.
- Obligation limits: Spending caps on Highway Trust Fund programs are also cut to the same fraction of the fiscal year 2026 limits.
- Certain unspent highway funds: Highway Trust Fund money (other than the Mass Transit Account) authorized by section 11101 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for programs that are not formula-apportioned under 23 U.S.C. § 104(b) or the railway-highway crossing program under § 130(f), and that would otherwise expire on September 30, 2026, stays available until September 30, 2027.
- Appalachian Regional Commission: Existing authorization dates tied to 2026 are treated as 2027 during the extension, so those programs continue.
- Sport Fish Restoration and Boating programs: Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act dates tied to 2026 are treated as 2027 during the extension.
- Trust-fund spending authority: Authority to spend from the Highway Trust Fund, the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund is extended from October 1, 2026, to December 12, 2026.
Notable Provisions
- Programs and rules in a long list of prior laws—including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the FAST Act, MAP–21, SAFETEA–LU, and core highway and transit statutes—that would expire after September 30, 2026, continue through December 11, 2026.
- This is a stopgap of a little over two months, not a full reauthorization. New policy is not written; old law is carried forward by reference.
- The usual notice to states of highway apportionments under 23 U.S.C. § 104(e)(2) does not apply for fiscal year 2027. The division does not spell out a replacement notice process.
- Program extension ends December 11, 2026, while trust-fund expenditure authority runs through December 12, 2026.
- Formula highway apportionments and the § 130(f) rail-crossing program are excluded from the extra year of availability for otherwise-lapsing funds. Other covered Highway Trust Fund highway programs are included.
Who Benefits
State departments of transportation, public transit agencies, and the contractors and workers who build and maintain roads, bridges, and transit systems are the main beneficiaries, because federal highway and transit money and rules stay in force. Appalachian communities served by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and sport-fish restoration and boating programs funded through the related trust fund, also keep their authority. Cleanup work tied to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund can continue to draw on that fund through December 12, 2026.
Plain English Summary
Congress is hitting “pause and continue” on the federal programs that pay for highways, bridges, and transit. Instead of passing a new long-term transportation bill, this division keeps today’s rules going from October 1, 2026, until December 11, 2026, and allows only about one-fifth of a normal year’s funding—matching those roughly 72 days. It also keeps the Highway Trust Fund and two related trust funds legally able to pay out through December 12, 2026, extends Appalachian and sport-fishing program dates, and gives some already-approved non-formula highway money an extra year before it expires. The text does not name a grand total in dollars; the dollar amount is whatever share of last year’s authorized levels matches the length of this short extension.
Titles
Title Summary
Title I extends federal surface transportation programs that would otherwise expire or stop applying after September 30, 2026, through an “extension end date” defined elsewhere in the division. It continues Highway Trust Fund highway and mass transit programs, general-fund surface transportation programs, Appalachian Regional Commission authorities, and Dingell-Johnson sport fish restoration provisions, generally at a pro-rata “extension fraction” of fiscal year 2026 levels rather than at newly stated dollar amounts.
Spending Breakdown
This title states no fixed dollar amounts. Fiscal year 2027 funding is set by formula against fiscal year 2026 authorizations under the “covered laws.”
| Line Item | Amount | Purpose |
| Highway Trust Fund — Highway Account | Extension fraction of each program’s FY 2026 Highway Account authorization | Continue each highway program funded from the Highway Account for FY 2027, administered as in FY 2026 |
| Highway Trust Fund — Mass Transit Account | Extension fraction of each program’s FY 2026 Mass Transit Account authorization | Continue each transit program funded from the Mass Transit Account for FY 2027, administered as in FY 2026 |
| General fund (non-Highway Trust Fund accounts) | Not less than the extension fraction of each program’s FY 2026 authorization | Continue covered-law programs funded outside the Highway and Mass Transit Accounts |
| Obligation limitation (HTF programs) | Extension fraction of each program’s FY 2026 obligation limit | Cap FY 2027 obligations in the same manner as FY 2026 |
| IIJA §11101 Highway Trust Fund balances (non-Mass Transit Account; programs other than those apportioned under 23 U.S.C. §§104(b) or 130(f)) | No new amount; existing authority that would lapse Sept. 30, 2026 | Keep those funds available through Sept. 30, 2027 |
| Appalachian Regional Commission (40 U.S.C. §§14703–14704) | No amount stated | Substitute “2027” for “2026” in authorization and termination dates during the extension period |
| Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. §777c) | No amount stated | Substitute “2027” for “2026” in specified funding provisions during the extension period |
“Extension fraction,” “extension end date,” “extension period,” and “covered laws” are used but not defined in this title.
Notable Sections
- Sec. 3101 is a continuation, not a new program. It incorporates expiring surface transportation authorities by reference and funds FY 2027 at a fraction of FY 2026, which is the structure of a short-term extension.
- Highway and transit accounts are authorized at exactly the extension fraction. General-fund programs are authorized at not less than that fraction, so those amounts are a floor rather than a fixed level.
- Sec. 3101(c)(2) waives the state apportionment-notice requirement in 23 U.S.C. §104(e)(2) for fiscal year 2027.
- Sec. 3101(d) applies a matching fractional obligation limitation to Highway Trust Fund programs.
- Sec. 3104 stops certain non-apportioned Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Highway Trust Fund authorizations (other than Mass Transit Account funds, and other than programs apportioned under 23 U.S.C. §§104(b) or 130(f)) from lapsing on September 30, 2026, and keeps them available through September 30, 2027.
- Secs. 3102 and 3103 only change statutory years from 2026 to 2027 for the Appalachian Regional Commission and sport fish restoration; they create no new programs and state no dollar amounts.
Plain English
This title keeps federal highway, transit, and related surface transportation programs from shutting off after September 30, 2026, by extending them for part of fiscal year 2027 at a proportional share of the prior year’s funding.
Title Summary
Title II extends the legal authority to spend money already in three federal trust funds—the Highway Trust Fund, the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, and the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund—by amending the Internal Revenue Code. It does not appropriate new money. It pushes the current expenditure-authority cutoff from October 1, 2026, to December 12, 2026, and updates statutory references from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2026.
Spending Breakdown
| Line Item | Amount | Purpose |
| Highway Trust Fund (IRC §9503) | No amount specified | Extends expenditure authority from Oct. 1, 2026, to Dec. 12, 2026; retitles authorizing reference to the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2026 |
| Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund (IRC §9504) | No amount specified | Same date extension and authorizing-act update |
| Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund (IRC §9508) | No amount specified | Extends expenditure authority from Oct. 1, 2026, to Dec. 12, 2026 |
This title contains no dollar figures. It only changes dates and cross-references that govern when existing trust-fund balances may be spent.
Notable Sections
- SEC. 3201 is the sole section. It is a short-term extension, not a new program: about 10 weeks beyond the prior October 1, 2026, expiration (through December 12, 2026).
- Highway Trust Fund changes cover subsections (b)(6)(B), (c)(1), and (e)(3) of IRC §9503 (date) and subsections (c)(1) and (e)(3) (act name).
- Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund changes cover IRC §9504(b)(2) (act name) and §9504(d)(2) (date).
- Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund change is limited to the date in IRC §9508(e)(2).
- No restrictions, new programs, or policy riders appear in this title.
Plain English
Congress is giving itself until December 12, 2026, to keep paying for highways, sport-fish and boating programs, and leaking underground storage tank cleanup from existing trust funds, rather than letting that spending authority lapse on October 1, 2026.