WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the following statement in response to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announcing a final rule that imposes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance measures on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations, despite lacking the authority from Congress to do so.
“Federal overreach to advance a misguided climate agenda has become a staple of the Biden administration. The final rule announced today, which imposes the performance measure and the requirement to set greenhouse gas targets on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations, is just one more example of these harmful regulations. During negotiations of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, this authority for FHWA was purposefully left out of the final bipartisan bill that was signed into law. Without the authority to impose this mandate, the FHWA is ignoring the letter of the law to finalize a rule that hampers the ability of state DOTs and MPOs to address the transportation needs of their constituents.”
BACKGROUND:
At a hearing in June 2023, Ranking Member Capito outlined major concerns about the proposed rule with FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt.
In October 2022, Ranking Member Capito led 26 of her colleagues in sending a letter to FHWA Deputy Administrator Stephanie Pollack voicing their strong opposition to the agency’s proposal to implement a GHG emissions performance measure on state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations.
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