The Federal Transit Administration is proposing new guidance that would no longer count carbon emissions when making transit grant awards, the agency announced Thursday — the latest attempt by the Trump administration to roll back environmental standards set by previous Democratic administrations.
Currently, FTA takes into account projected vehicle miles traveled when estimating the environmental impact of potential projects, a standard that’s been in place since 2013 as part of the agency’s signature Capital Investment Grant awards program. Moving forward, the agency is proposing to instead rely on EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which looks at the presence of air pollutants in a given area. According to a posting to the Federal Register earlier this week, the reliance on vehicle miles to “estimate each project’s effect on air quality, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and safety” was an “unnecessary burden.”
“These proposed actions remove unnecessary regulatory requirements and provide the best support possible for locally driven transit projects,” FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro said in a Thursday release, referencing President Donald Trump’s effort of “unleashing American energy so we can lower costs and grow the economy.”
DOT and the FTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the American Public Transportation Association, the largest transit interest group in the country, said the organization was not ready to comment.
