Federal Highway Administration clears Bay Bridge replacement with 150-day claim window

The Federal Highway Administration has taken final agency actions approving the proposed improvements along U.S. 50/301, the replacement of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the demolition of the current Bay Bridge in Maryland. The decision was published on Monday, 9 November 2026, in the Notices section of the Federal Register (Vol. 91, No. 215, pp. 70979–70980), under official reference FR Doc. 2026-22771. With it, the federal permitting record for the project becomes final and the clock starts on any legal challenge.

A statutory notice that closes the record

The notice is issued under 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1), the provision that requires the highway agency to publish notice of final actions so that claims against them become time-barred. The Federal Highway Administration states that the actions “grant licenses, permits, or approvals for the Project,” and that they are described in the Tier 2 Combined Final Environmental Impact Statement and the Record of Decision adopted under the National Environmental Policy Act, together with the supporting technical reports held in the project file.

This is not a rulemaking or a funding announcement: it is the federal government certifying that its environmental and permitting review is complete and that all decisions final as of the issuance date are covered. The document was filed on 6 November 2026 and signed by Valeriya Remezova, Division Administrator of the agency’s Maryland Division.

Eight April 2027: the deadline for litigation

The operative date is set in the DATES line: a claim seeking judicial review of the federal actions on the highway project will be barred unless filed on or before 8 April 2027. The agency adds one caveat favourable to statutes: if the law authorising review of a particular claim provides a period of less than 150 days, that shorter period still applies.

What the approvals cover, as listed in the notice:

• Proposed improvements along U.S. 50/301 in Maryland.
• Proposed replacement of the Bay Bridge across the Chesapeake Bay.
• Proposed demolition of the current Bay Bridge span.
• Approvals and the initiation of consultations recorded in the Tier 2 Combined FEIS and Record of Decision.

The statutes and orders behind the decision

The notice enumerates the legal authorities under which the final actions were taken, so that each can be challenged — or not — within the same window:

• General: NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal-Aid Highway Act (23 U.S.C. 109, 139 and 128).
• Air and noise: Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401–7671(q)) and the Noise Control Act of 1972.
• Land and wildlife: Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
• Heritage and social impacts: Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the Farmland Protection Policy Act, the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Water and hazardous materials: Clean Water Act Sections 401, 402, 404 and 319, the Safe Drinking Water Act, CERCLA as amended by SARA, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
• Executive Orders 11990, 11988, 11593, 13007, 13287, 13175 and 13112 as amended by Executive Order 13751.

Where the file can be consulted

Project records, the FEIS, the Record of Decision and supporting technical reports are available from the agency’s Maryland Division at 31 Hopkins Plaza, Suite 1520, Baltimore, and through the project website, baycrossingstudy.com. Enquiries are directed to Valeriya Remezova at (410) 962-4440, with office hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST. The notice also lists the state partner, the Maryland Transportation Authority, whose Executive Director Bruce Gartner can be reached at 2310 Broening Highway, Baltimore, telephone (410) 537-1001; the authority’s hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.

The practical effect is a hard calendar. Federal agencies have signed off on replacing one of the busiest crossings on the East Coast and removing the existing structure, and opponents now have a single, dated window in which to go to court; after 8 April 2027, the approvals stand as final for purposes of judicial review.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 215, 9 November 2026, Notices, pp. 70979–70980 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026-22771).