State and local leaders are happy to have the money. But state transportation officials are flagging issues they’re worried about, as Republican lawmakers chafe over Biden administration rules.
Republican lawmakers in Congress and some state highway officials are criticizing a proposal by the Transportation Department that would require states to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions on their roads.
State officials are also pressing for federal agencies to grant their departments greater flexibility in deciding how to spend funding from the new infrastructure law. And they’re warning that they could run into problems trying to meet requirements for buying American-made materials for projects—including with the nationwide buildout of electric vehicle charging stations.
The Transportation Department’s rules for giving out discretionary grants under the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act tend to be so complicated that West Virginia Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston said he can “confidently predict” the administration of that money will be seen as an “abject failure” a year from now.
Route Fifty
By Kery Murakami
SEP 21, 2022