{"id":32020,"date":"2025-08-26T20:15:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T03:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/fta-seeks-to-eliminate-environmental-criteria-from-capital-investment-grant-guidelines\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T20:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T03:15:10","slug":"fta-seeks-to-eliminate-environmental-criteria-from-capital-investment-grant-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/fta-seeks-to-eliminate-environmental-criteria-from-capital-investment-grant-guidelines\/","title":{"rendered":"FTA seeks to eliminate environmental criteria from capital investment grant guidelines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?500116090725\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">3 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dmgi9movl\/video\/upload\/q_1\/v1756225741\/news\/text_to_speech\/fta-capital-investment-grants-policy-changes_z9odp8.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\">Dive Brief:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The Federal Transit Administration proposed updated guidelines to its multibillion-dollar Capital Investment Grant program that would <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transit.dot.gov\/about\/news\/federal-transit-administration-ditch-green-new-deal-carbon-scam-move-unleash-american\" target=\"_blank\">remove the \u201csocial cost of carbon\u201d<\/a> calculation as part of the rating criteria for transit grants, calling it a \u201cgreen new deal carbon scam.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The FTA published a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2025\/08\/19\/2025-15794\/notice-of-availability-of-proposed-policy-guidance-for-the-capital-investment-grants-program\" target=\"_blank\">request for public comment<\/a> in the Federal Register Tuesday. Comments are due by Sept. 2.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThese proposed actions remove unnecessary regulatory requirements and provide the best support possible for locally driven transit projects,\u201d FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro said in a statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dive Insight:<\/h3>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transit.dot.gov\/funding\/grants\/fact-sheet-capital-investment-grants-program\" target=\"_blank\">Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act<\/a> provided $3 billion annually for five years through the 2026 fiscal year, along with advanced appropriations of $1.6 billion a year for CIG funds. These grants are one of the federal government\u2019s primary programs to support investments in public transit, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars and bus rapid transit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The proposed policy guidance change would revise the methodology for evaluating environmental benefits using vehicle miles traveled to estimate each project&#8217;s effect on air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and other factors, which has been in place since 2013.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter several years of experience with the measure, FTA has determined the VMT-based calculation adds unnecessary burden and complexity to the evaluation process,\u201d the agency states.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The first commenter acknowledged the agency\u2019s desire to reduce the regulatory burden on applicants, but expressed concerns about the proposed change to the methodology. \u201cThe VMT methodology allows for empirical modeling of induced travel, mode shift, and long-term sustainability impacts,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regulations.gov\/comment\/FTA-2025-0068-0003\" target=\"_blank\">commenter Joseph Wilson said<\/a>. \u201cEliminating it may reduce the ability to compare projects based on their environmental performance, which could undermine climate-conscious infrastructure goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FTA published an additional request for information Tuesday to solicit input from transit authorities, planning officials, states, cities, the private sector and the public on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2025\/08\/19\/2025-15795\/request-for-information-concerning-the-capital-investment-grants-program\" target=\"_blank\">wider changes to CIG program guidance<\/a>, required every two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The request asks responders to address three questions on how to better evaluate economic development and land use criteria related to population growth, transit-oriented development and opportunity zones. Comments must be received by Sept. 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For the 2026 fiscal year, the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transit.dot.gov\/sites\/fta.dot.gov\/files\/2025-05\/FY26-Annual-Report-on-Funding-Recommendations.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">FTA is requesting $3.8 billion<\/a> of the available $4.6 billion for the CIG program and the Expedited Project Delivery pilot program.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/fta-capital-investment-grants-policy-changes\/758638\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive &#8230; <a title=\"FTA seeks to eliminate environmental criteria from capital investment grant guidelines\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/fta-seeks-to-eliminate-environmental-criteria-from-capital-investment-grant-guidelines\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about FTA seeks to eliminate environmental criteria from capital investment grant guidelines\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}