FHWA Publishes Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measures
The Federal Highway Administration has published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend greenhouse gas emission measures.
On July 15th, the FHWA published a rulemaking that proposes “to require state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to establish declining carbon dioxide targets and to establish a method for the measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation under the highways title of the United States Code.”
FHWA Seeking Comments
The FHWA are seeking comments on the rulemaking and will collect them for 90 days. Comments can be sent a few different ways:
- Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to Regulations.gov and follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
- Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590.
- Hand Delivery: S. Department of Transportation, Docket Operations, West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone number is (202) 366-9329.
All submissions should include the agency name and the docket number that appears in the heading of this document or the Regulation Identifier Number for the rulemaking. The RIN for Docket No. FHWA-2021-0004 is 2125-AF99.
Greenhouse Gas Emission Targets
The proposed rule doesn’t mandate the level of greenhouse gas emission targets for each state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations, though agencies can shape targets based on what is best of their communities and the climate change policies they have established.
The rule would require state departments and other planning organizations that have National Highway System mileage within their geographic and planning boundaries to establish declining greenhouse gas emissions targets. Carbon dioxide emissions generated by on-road mobile sources must be reduced in order to align with the Biden administration’s net-zero targets.
Limiting The Federal Government
The proposed rulemaking could potentially fizzle out. On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that limits the federal government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In the case West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA does not have the authority to regulate individual parts of the country’s energy portfolio.
The court ruled that the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan does not clear the “major questions” hurdle, congress did not authorize regulation of states’ greenhouse gas emissions.
Related Articles: