Dive Brief:
- The U.S. DOT has rolled back a Biden-era policy that included environmental and social considerations in federally funded infrastructure projects, according to a Monday memo from the agency.
- The move rescinds two Federal Highway Administration memos, issued in 2021 and 2023, both titled “Policy on Using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Resources to Build a Better America.”
- Former President Joe Biden’s policy advised state and local agencies receiving funds from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to prioritize projects that advance equity and environmental goals. The recission memo states that that policy will have no role in DOT programs going forward.
Dive Insight:
The rescission is the latest effort from the Trump administration to dismantle Biden's signature policies. Previously, the DOT announced that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had authorized a series of actions to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda to “rescind woke policies” and roll back regulations.
In January for example, the DOT said it would give grant preferences to “communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.”
In the latest announcement, Duffy called the policy to include social and resilience considerations in funding decisions “an act of federal overreach.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Transportation is getting back to basics — building critical infrastructure projects that move people and move commerce safely,” Duffy said in the release.
Under the Biden administration’s now-defunct guidance and the 2023 update of the same name, which have both been removed from the DOT website, the Federal Highway Administration was directed to:
- Promote and improve safety for all road users, particularly vulnerable ones.
- Support accelerated project delivery and an efficient environmental review process through the One Federal Decision framework.
- Make streets and other transportation facilities compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Address environmental impacts like stormwater runoff to greenhouse gas emissions and prioritize infrastructure that is less vulnerable and more resilient to a changing climate.
- Accommodate new and emerging technologies like electric vehicle charging stations, renewable energy generation and broadband deployment in transportation rights-of-way.
- Reconnect communities and include disadvantaged and under-represented groups in the planning, project selection and design process.
The rescinded memos nonetheless recognize that “States determine which of their projects shall be federally financed by Federal-aid highway formula dollars.”
