U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Hoeven (R-ND), and 25 of their GOP Senate colleagues urged the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to withdraw its proposed rulemaking to implement a greenhouse gas emissions performance measure on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations.
“FHWA does not have the statutory authority to proceed with this proposal,” the senators wrote in an Oct. 13 letter sent to FHWA Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “The agency’s actions demonstrate a complete disregard for the law and an overreach of its authority provided by Congress.”
The lawmakers requested that Pollack immediately withdraw the FHWA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the National Performance Management Measure; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Measure, which the agency proposed on July 15.
In addition to not having the authority from Congress to issue the NPRM, the proposal would significantly burden state-level investments in roadways, bridges, highways, and other transportation projects, according to their letter.
Current law also does not provide any authority for the FHWA to make the NPRM, wrote the senators, noting that the enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act does not provide the FHWA with “any statutory authority to impose the performance measure or the requirement to set declining targets on state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations.”
“FHWA cannot create of its own choosing the authority that Congress debated, considered, and rejected,” they wrote. Doing so “would infringe on state DOTs’ necessary flexibility to meet the surface transportation needs of their residents.”
The senators wrote that the FHWA proposal “is especially egregious” because the agency seeks to regulate a significant portion of the American economy and potentially require billions of dollars in spending by private persons or entities.
And if finalized, the NPRM would “commandeer” state DOTs’ authority by “forcing them to reduce vehicle emissions…” and also would “incentivize switching to electric vehicles, reducing vehicle miles traveled, and restructuring transportation networks,” they wrote.
Among other concerns, the senators added that the NPRM also lacks a rural state exemption and takes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing GHGs.
“FHWA’s proposal disadvantages rural states and places an unreasonable burden on them by failing to recognize the unique situation of those states,” wrote the lawmakers.
Sen. Capito, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, led the letter, which in addition to Sen. Hoeven was also signed by U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).