Fischer-led effort urges FHWA to rescind proposed rulemaking on measuring GHG emissions

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) led eight of her Republican colleagues in calling a recently published notice of proposed rulemaking from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) a potential violation of federal law and counter to congressional intent.

Specifically, the recent FHWA proposed rulemaking, entitled the National Performance Management Measurements; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measure, would obligate state and local transportation organizations to use federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to measure transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“However, this proposed rule falls outside the scope and congressional intent of the bipartisan IIJA,” wrote Sen. Fischer and her colleagues in a July 28 letter sent to FHWA Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “Furthermore, the implementation of calculating and tracking GHG emissions is overly burdensome on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations.

“For these reasons, we urge you to rescind this proposed rule,” wrote the lawmakers, who included U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Rob Portman (R-OH).

The senators also pointed out that they are “equally concerned” that the proposed rule represents another example of FHWA using guidance and rulemaking to meet the Biden administration’s climate agenda “under the guise of implementing the IIJA.”

Additionally, the proposed rule would require state and local governments to develop and establish targets and report on progress to lower emissions, according to their letter, which notes that this requirement is “clearly outside” the mission of state departments of transportation.

“Imposition of these burdensome, and potentially unlawful, regulations also comes at a time when states are struggling to deal with the price and availability of construction materials and record inflation-economic headwinds we have not faced in decades,” Sen. Fischer and the lawmakers wrote. “Your department’s focus should be on helping to alleviate these burdens so we can take full advantage of the opportunity before us to fulfill the bipartisan vision of the IIJA and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.”