For Immediate Release
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Daisy Singh, 202-857-1200, daisysingh@highways.org
(WASHINGTON, DC) – A diverse group of organizations representing highway users, transportation, vehicle, and energy trade associations filed joint comments over the weekend opposing any move by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to impose a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction performance requirement on State transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations.
The organizations made the following arguments in the joint filing:
- FHWA does not have the legal authority to establish a GHG standard on State DOTs and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs);
- Even if legal authority could be claimed, there are a several reasons why such a metric is inappropriate, unnecessary, and duplicative with other requirements;
- If FHWA intends to move forward with a specific proposal over these objections, it should re-issue a draft notice for comments on a specific proposal prior to finalizing a new regulation.
To view the multi-organizational filing, click here.
In addition, the American Highway Users Alliance filed separate comments to the same docket supporting robust congestion relief and freight reliability performance metrics. To read that filing, click here.
Upon submitting the filings to the docket, American Highway Users Alliance President & CEO Greg Cohen made the following statement:
“The Highway Users has been a strong supporter of setting clear, national performance standards for highway safety, freight reliability, congestion relief, and infrastructure conditions. These standards should help taxpayers understand how States and MPOs use federal-aid to make progress on key national and regional transportation needs. However, we urge FHWA not to overreach with requirements that are unauthorized or overly burdensome on our States and MPOs.
“It is critical that new regulations do not undercut FHWA’s own efforts to streamline planning and project delivery. The Highway Users does not support piling on additional performance metrics beyond those specifically authorized by Congress in recent highway legislation. These extra regulations could hamstring many life-saving, congestion-reducing road and bridge projects at a time when our nation’s infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating.”
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The American Highway Users Alliance represents motorists, bus companies, truckers, RV enthusiasts, motorcyclists and a broad cross-section of businesses that depend on safe and efficient highways to transport their families, customers, employees, and products. Highway Users members pay taxes that finance transportation spending programs and advocate public policies that dedicate those taxes to improved highway safety and mobility.
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