The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration are asking a federal appeals court to reverse a lower court’s order that struck down a new rule establishing transportation-related greenhouse gas emission performance measures.
Nearly two months after a Texas federal court dismantled FHWA’s greenhouse gas performance measures rule, the Biden administration wants the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling. The Texas lawsuit is just one of several challenges to the rule.
FHWA’s greenhouse gas performance measure rule
At the center of the lawsuit is a new rule providing a national framework for state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations to track transportation-related greenhouse gas emission.
According to the final rule, state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations are required to establish declining carbon dioxide targets. They are to report on progress toward the achievement of those targets.
The final rule only establishes a framework for measurement. It does not mandate how low greenhouse gas emission targets must be.
State DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations have flexibility to set targets that are appropriate for their communities and that work for their respective climate change and other policy priorities, as long as the targets aim to reduce emission over time.
Specifically, state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations that have National Highway System mileage within their geographic boundaries must establish declining targets for reducing CO2 emission generated by on-road mobile sources relative to a reference year defined as calendar year 2022, and must report on their progress.
The final rule was finalized in December and went into effect in January.
Challenges to FHWA’s rule
The new greenhouse gas performance measure rule was immediately met with challenges in the courtroom and in Congress.
In December, the state of Texas filed a federal lawsuit against the DOT and FHWA, claiming Congress never authorized the agency to address environmental impacts in its highway performance program. In fact, the lawsuit echoes arguments made in 2018 when FHWA first attempted to establish greenhouse gas performance measures.
Just days before Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the Obama administration issued a similar final rule. However, that rule was repealed after FHWA concluded that it exceeded its authority with the 2017 rule. In July 2022, the Biden administration revisited the issue with a proposed rule that was very similar to the 2017 rule.
A few days after Texas filed its lawsuit, 21 states led by then-Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging FHWA’s greenhouse gas performance measures rule.
In February, Republicans in Congress introduced a resolution to undo FHWA’s greenhouse gas performance measures.
That resolution came shortly after a group of 40 stakeholders representing a variety of industries issued a letter to Congress members and authorizing committees to express opposition to the rule. The resolution passed the Senate in April, but has been held at the House desk since.
In March, Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas federal court granted Texas’ motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit. Hendrix ruled that Congress never authorized FHWA to install a rule establishing transportation-related greenhouse gas performance measures, effectively putting an end to the rule.
Shortly after the ruling, the judge in the Kentucky case also ruled that FHWA overstepped its authority. The judge in that case did not vacate the rule in its entirety. However, since the Texas judge did completely throw out the rule, the order in the Kentucky case has little teeth. LL
Credit: Source link
