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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
The US Department of Transportation has ordered states to kill their implementation plans related to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, according to a memo obtained by WIRED that was later made public. The decision appears to halt in its tracks a $5 billion program designed to fund state projects to install electric vehicle charging stations across the United States.
Officials at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which manages the program, ordered state transportation directors to “decertify” the plans that all 50 states have used to outline where and how they will build their charging stations, and with what companies they’ll contract to do so. States have followed those plans to build more than 30 charging stations across the US, with hundreds more on the way.
“The order may be illegal. It could fly in the face of court orders demanding the Trump administration “unfreeze” a funding pause that prevents federal money from flowing to state agencies. It may also violate the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires agencies to follow legal procedures before taking action.”
So much of what this administration is doing, strong arming where they have no right, nor mandate. Of course it’s illegal. Who will ‘hold their feet to the fire’?
“There is no legal basis for funds that have been apportioned to states to build projects being ‘decertified’ based on policy,” says Andrew Rogers, a former deputy administrator and chief counsel of the Federal Highway Administration.
Yeah, this is a concerning question I see consistently asked and there really isn’t a great answer. Who cares what the courts say, we already know what the highest court will say. And besides - who is going to enforce those decisions?