Manchin and Capito lead bipartisan effort to overturn federal highway administration's emissions rule

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bipartisan Congressional Review Act (CRA) Joint Resolution of Disapproval Wednesday to nullify a November 2023 Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) rule that imposes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance measures on state departments of transportation (DOTs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), despite lacking the authority from Congress to do so.

“The FHWA’s GHG rule is yet another example of irresponsible federal overreach. This rule will cause serious economic damage to our transportation industries, especially in rural states like West Virginia with heavy freight traffic,” Manchin said. “Let me be clear — the administration does not have the authority to burden state DOTs with these radical emissions performance measures without Congressional direction. I’m proud to introduce this resolution of disapproval and I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to oppose the FHWA’s unlawful and economically irresponsible power grab.”

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, also cosponsored the bill.

“Once again, the Biden administration is blatantly neglecting the letter of a bipartisan law passed by Congress and signed by the president himself. FHWA’s final rule limits the flexibility of states to advance their own transportation investment priorities, jeopardizing critical investments, jobs, and economic growth across the country,” Capito said in a prepared statement Wednesday. “When we negotiated the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we specifically left out the authority FHWA is attempting to exercise with its greenhouse gas emissions performance measure requirement. As we’ve done before, I am committed to working with my Senate and House colleagues to hold the Biden administration accountable.”

U.S. Representatives Rick Crawford (R-AR) and Sam Graves (R-MO) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.