Special Emergency Road Law

The purpose of this Law is to establish exceptional, urgent, and temporary measures for:

• 1)

  The immediate execution of operations throughout the country, provisional patching and preventive road maintenance prior to Holy Week and the upcoming winter period;

• 2)

  Dredging for Flood Control, Repair and Construction of Embankments;

• 3)

  Construction and Expansion of Bridges; and,

• 4)

  The Implementation of the Special Program for the Acquisition of Machinery and Equipment for Municipal Governments, aimed at the maintenance of urban, rural, and productive roads. When a highway is part of the National Road Network, mayors are authorized to repair or reconstruct highways without civil liability on the part of the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC).

A STATE OF ROAD EMERGENCY AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL is declared, of a temporary nature, exclusively for the purposes of maintenance and patching of the primary and secondary networks, signalization, cleaning, dredging of watercourses, as well as the treatment, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of embankments at the national level, both in rivers that converge with those areas, and in the interconnection or relief channels of the road network system, as well as to carry out maintenance activities in rainwater drainage systems (gutters, channels, sewage systems, stream beds, rivers, and fords) to prevent damages such as flooding in populated and productive areas, overflows, and deterioration of infrastructure resulting from the impact of winter periods. THE STATE OF ROAD EMERGENCY AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL shall be for a period of one (1) year counted from the publication of this Decree and shall be exclusively destined for the execution, continuity, and completion of all projects that have been duly contracted under the same, and may be extended by the National Congress at the request of the Executive Power.

The Executive Power is authorized, through the State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), to execute immediately, on the primary and secondary networks:

• 1)

  Provisional Patching Operations;

• 2)

  Preventive Road Maintenance and Provisional Signalization for Road Safety;

• 3)

  Dredging for Flood Control, Repair and Construction of Embankments; and, 4) Construction and Expansion of Bridges. For which priority shall be given to highways with high vehicular flow, tourist routes, productive regions, accesses and exits to cities, and logistical corridors. Likewise, the Executive Power is authorized, through the State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), to execute immediately and directly the following priority works:

  • 1)

    Construction of the bridge parallel to the Germania Bridge, with its respective approaches, given the high traffic on the Exit to the South of the Capital of the Republic;

  • 2)

    Construction of the failed lane of the Overpass Bridge "Juan Manuel Gálvez" at the intersection of the Peripheral Ring, 21 de Octubre Colony, of the Capital of the Republic; and,

  • 3)

    Expansion of the Bridges of Highway CA-13 between the Municipalities of Progreso and Tela, located at Kilometer 1, Kilometer 2.4, Kilometer 4.1, Kilometer 5.9, and Kilometer 8.3; to convert this high-traffic section into four lanes, increasing road capacity and reducing vehicular congestion.

For the purposes of this Decree, the Executive Power is authorized, through the State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), to use the direct contracting procedure for all goods and services necessary for the strict compliance with this Law, as a fundamental part of the infrastructure to be addressed with priority character, which includes provisional patching, preventive road maintenance and provisional signalization, dredging for flood control and construction and expansion of bridges, as well as cleaning, dredging of watercourses, treatment, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of embankments at the national level, both in rivers that converge with those areas, as well as in the interconnection or relief channels of the road network system, as well as to carry out maintenance activities in rainwater drainage systems (gutters, channels, sewage systems, stream beds, rivers, and fords) to prevent damages such as flooding in populated and productive areas, overflows, and deterioration of infrastructure resulting from the impact of winter periods.

The SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR THE ACQUISITION AND ALLOCATION OF MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT FOR MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS is created, attached to the State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), consisting of the temporary or permanent allocation of basic machinery, tools, and equipment for maintenance and assurance of roads, which must include, at a minimum:

• 1)

  One Crawler Tractor;

• 2)

  One Motor Grader;

• 3)

  One Backhoe;

• 4)

  One Vibratory Compactor;

• 5)

  One Water Tank;

• 6)

  Two Dump Trucks; and,

• 7)

  One Excavator. The State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT) shall be responsible for establishing the criteria, specifications, and technical capacities of the same. The capacities and dimensions of the machinery shall be determined based on the needs of each of the municipalities to achieve greater effectiveness in the compliance with this Law. Machinery and equipment destined for the maintenance, rehabilitation, and improvement of the national, urban, and rural road network, which are allocated to municipalities or other public entities under the framework of this Law, must be subject obligatorily to a comprehensive mechanism of insurance, custody, preventive and corrective maintenance, in order to guarantee its continuous, efficient, and sustainable use over time. Such mechanism must contemplate the contracting of insurance policies that cover damages, loss, theft, accidents, and civil liability derived from its operation; as well as the formal designation of a public official responsible for custody and proper use; the execution of maintenance plans according to technical specifications; the replacement of worn or damaged parts due to prolonged use, and the total replacement of equipment in case of irreparable damage, ensuring the operational continuity of the Municipal Program and Equipment.

With the SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR THE ACQUISITION AND ALLOCATION OF MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT FOR MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS, all 298 Municipal Governments of the country shall be beneficiaries, in accordance with a strategic planning carried out by the State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), without any political or party discrimination, prior to the subscription between the parties of agreements on use, maintenance, control, and accountability that are implemented and correspond. The machinery and equipment to be acquired for the execution of this Special Acquisition Program shall not be subject to any type of judicial attachment.

The acquisition of machinery and equipment may be carried out through direct contracting based on Law consolidated to what is established in the second paragraph of Article 5, with the objective of expediting the process, obtaining preferential prices by volume, and guaranteeing efficiency in the use of public resources, respecting the principles of Legality, Transparency, Accountability, and Control, and all processes must be documented in accordance with current regulations, without prejudice to donations that the State may manage and receive, guaranteeing the optimization of resources and the financial sustainability of the same.

Machinery and equipment must be acquired exclusively through reliable companies, legally constituted, national and/or foreign, with proven experience, that offer legal security, solidity, and financial support, accessible prices, warranty, maintenance and technical support, that have the highest experience in the sale of this type of machinery, workshops, certificates, ample inventory, and qualified technical personnel in the field.

Machinery and equipment acquired may be allocated to the Municipal Governments of the Country in accordance with population, territorial, technical, and need criteria, prioritizing those with greater road infrastructure deficit. Two or more municipalities, including municipal associations (mancomunidades), in relation to the size of their territory, population, geographic location, availability of financial resources and technical personnel, may associate or subscribe agreements that allow the allocation of machinery or equipment jointly to achieve greater efficiency in its use. The Executive Power, through the State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), may reallocate equipment or machinery that is not being used or that is being destined for purposes other than those for which it was originally assigned.

Tax and/or customs exemptions and exonerations are authorized, with an exceptional and temporary character, exclusively for the importation of machinery, equipment, spare parts, components, and supplies indispensable and directly destined to comply with the objectives of this Law, in direct relation to the SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR THE ACQUISITION OF MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT FOR MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS, prohibiting its use for purposes different from or unrelated to the authorized purpose. Tax and/or customs exemptions and exonerations must be obligatorily granted in simplified and completely effective timeframes and procedures that guarantee strict compliance with this Law in time and form and shall not constitute in any case a general benefit for importers, distributors, or traders and may only be granted when the imported goods are verifiably incorporated into programs, projects, or works executed by public institutions or municipalities in strict application of this Law. Responsible entities must establish simplified procedures for control, registration, and verification of the final destination of exonerated goods. The savings amounts obtained through exonerations must be reflected in the final price that supplier companies offer to the State.

All Institutions of the Executive Power responsible for infrastructure projects and public works are instructed that for the processes of contracting and construction of such works they be carried out in an agile and expedited manner, with those responsible able to use, in whole or in part or as reference, provisions contained in Decree No. 58-2011, containing the Special Law for the Simplification of Investment Procedures in Public Infrastructure dated May 18, 2011, and published in the Official Newspaper "La Gaceta" on July 13, 2011.

Contracts and Agreements subscribed under the terms of this Law, both to address the STATE OF ROAD EMERGENCY AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL and the SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR THE ACQUISITION AND ALLOCATION OF MUNICIPAL MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT, shall be executed seeking to obtain the most advantageous conditions in price and quality for the Public Administration and shall be subject to the processes of approval and audit provided for by the Constitution and the Laws of the Republic, and must be notified to the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC).

All processes and contracting derived from this Law shall be obligatorily subject to:

• 1)

  Preventive Control;

• 2)

  Concurrent Control;

• 3)

  Subsequent Audit of the Superior Court of Accounts (TSC); and,

• 4)

  Constant and mandatory publication of all processes in the transparency portals or pages of the related institutions, State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT), municipalities, municipal associations (mancomunidades), or any other entity. The State Secretary of Offices of Infrastructure and Transportation (SIT) must report every three (3) months to the National Congress the progress and results in relation to the application of this Law, which shall be analyzed and verified by a special committee appointed by the President of the National Congress.

The State Secretary of the Office of Finances (SEFIN) must create and allocate a specific budget item destined for the effective and timely execution of this Law, guaranteeing the availability of funds and their proper administration. The budget line item destined for the Road Network of the "Productive Roads" Program shall not be affected by the application of this Law.

To guarantee the strict and timely compliance with this Law, anything not provided for in the same or that requires more specification and/or development, provided it does not enter into contradiction or non-compliance with its provisions, may be approved by Executive Decree of the President of the Republic in Council of State Secretaries.

This Decree shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Newspaper "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District, in the Chamber of Sessions of the National Congress, on the tenth day of the month of February of two thousand twenty-six. JOSÉ TOMÁS ZAMBRANO MOLINA PRESIDENT CARLOS ROBERTO LEDEZMA CASCO SECRETARY FRANCIS OMAR CABRERA M. SECRETARY To the Executive Power Therefore: Execute Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., February 12, 2026 NASRY JUAN ASFURA ZABLAH PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC STATE SECRETARY IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY.