U.S. Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Rodney Davis (R-IL) said the Biden administration’s new Carbon Reduction Program and guidance released on April 21 go against the intent of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and will discourage road and highway expansion projects.
“Today, the Biden Administration doubled down on discouraging states from building new roads they may need, despite this policy being in direct conflict with what Congress intended in the recent infrastructure law,” said U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Graves and Highways and Transit Subcommittee Ranking Member Davis in a joint statement.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced its Carbon Reduction Program Guidance, which provides $6.4 billion in funds over five years for state and local projects designed to reduce transportation emissions from on-road highway sources.
Reps. Graves and Davis said the new guidance in part reinforces the previous Dec. 16, 2021, FHWA guidance urging states to pursue projects more in line with the Biden Administration’s policies on climate change, transportation equity, and non-motorized transportation when, in fact, new road and highway projects may be more needed.
“Instead of heeding Republicans’ calls for the Federal Highway Administration to rescind its December guidance, which they know is causing confusion among states, today’s announcement echoes the Administration’s earlier guidance and blatant misapplication of the IIJA, the lawmakers said in their April 21 written statement.