Recent signals from the U.S. Department of Transportation show a change in direction from funding infrastructure projects that contain environmental qualifiers and a return to more formula funding that provides reliable streams.
"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," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
"The previous administration flouted Congress in an attempt to push a radical social and environmental agenda on the American people. This was an act of federal overreach. It stops now."
The announcement came in conjunction with DOT rescinding two memorandums issued during the Biden Administration related to greenhouse gas emissions and equity initiatives.
"The rescission of the policy memos restores the long-standing policy that federal-aid highway programs are federally funded and state administered and eliminates the uncertainty those memos brought to the construction industry and state departments of transportation," said Alex Etchen, vice president of government relations, Associated General Contractors of America.
Policy shifts figure to play a critical role in the upcoming effort to reauthorize surface transportation legislation and stop the downward spiral of the Highway Trust Fund, which is struggling to remain solvent as gas tax revenues fail to keep pace with inflation.
Grants coming through DOT channels by way of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law typically required municipalities to provide matching funds that could be leveraged through public finance.
Lawmakers and the transportation industry appear to be on the same page with moving away from complex government grants that come with strings attached to more money from fuel taxes.
Per a statement from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, "AASHTO firmly believes in the federally assisted and state administered framework established through the Federal-aid Highway Program more than a century ago."
"Congress reaffirmed its support for state-driven decision-making embodied in the formula program to state departments of transportation under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and we oppose any actions that do not align with this Congressional intent."
The Highway Trust Fund was made solvent by a $118 billion infusion from the IIJA also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which expires in 2026.
The fund is supported by fuel taxes that haven't seen a rate increase since 1993.
Remapping the surface transportation funding puzzle includes focusing efforts on roads and bridges as opposed to bike lanes according to comments made by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves R – Mo.,
Graves also addressed the lack of federal policy governing electric vehicles that don't contribute fuel tax dollars.
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While highway concerns roll by in the background, the DOT is also scrambling to keep up with a steady drumbeat of deadly crashes, near misses, and tarmac fires at the nation's airports.
On Thursday Sec. Duffy took to X to announce that, "I am launching a full investigation into the DEI hiring allegations at the FAA immediately. If true, swift accountability will come for those responsible. We need the best and brightest, not buzzword, DEI hires."
On Tuesday DOT announced that the Federal Aviation Administration accepted the recommendations of the National Transportation Safety Board by permanently restricting non-essential helicopter operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and eliminating mixed helicopter and fixed wing traffic.
