USDOT Could Pull Green Infrastructure Grants

The Department of Transportation (USDOT) will require “the removal of all elements of projects related to bike infrastructure, charging infrastructure, climate change or those that take equity into account competitive grant funding,” according to a leaked policy memo that follows a memo rescinding environmental and equity considerations.

According to an explainer from Transportation for America, the memo applies to projects whose funding has not yet been fully obligated. “Projects that contain ‘flagged activities’ could be revised, even if they meet all requirements of law, to comply with this administration’s agenda.” One program that could lose significant amounts of funding under the memo is Safe Streets and Roads for All; just $515 million of the $2.9 billion awarded under the program has been obligated to date.

The action is unusual in that new administrations generally shift priorities for new projects rather than undoing projects already underway. T4A warns that “If this becomes precedent, future presidents could make unilateral decisions to freeze funding for any project that does not align with their own priorities. Allowing the pendulum to swing back and forth every four years undermines the rationale of the supposedly stable highway trust fund—perhaps further evidence that the model is no longer sustainable.”