
A recent memorandum from the U.S. Department of Transportation provided an update to its policies, including how grants will be prioritized.
“The Department’s grantmaking, lending, policymaking and rulemaking activities shall be based on sound economic principles and analysis supported by rigorous cost-benefit requirements and data-driven decisions,” stated the memo signed by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “This requirement shall apply regardless of whether the activities in question fall below the economic threshold required for review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.”
The memo added that “the benefits must be estimated to outweigh the costs.” For example, Duffy wrote that the calculation of the social cost of carbon is “marked by logical deficiencies, a poor basis in empirical science, politicization and the absence of a foundation in legislation.”
Later in the memo, Duffy wrote that the Department of Transportation will prioritize grants, loans and contracts that:
- Utilize user-pay models
- Direct funding to local opportunity zones where permitted
- To the extent practicable … mitigate the unique impacts of DOT programs, policies and activities on families and family-specific difficulties, such as the accessibility of transportation to families with young children, and give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average
- Prohibit recipients of DOT support or assistance from imposing vaccine and mask mandates
- Require local compliance or cooperation with federal immigration enforcement with other goals and objectives specified by the president of the United States or the secretary
The memo was set to take effect immediately.
Busy start
Duffy was confirmed to lead the Department of Transportation on Jan. 28. The former Congressman has wasted no time setting the DOT’s policies under the new administration.
Hours after being confirmed, Duffy directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to begin the process of rolling back updated corporate average fuel economy standards established by the previous administration.
Duffy’s orders to NHTSA apply to fuel economy standards mostly for passenger vehicles, but the Trump administration is expected to make moves that affect heavy-duty truck emission standards. LL
Land Line Associate Editor Tyson Fisher contributed to this report.
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