Sponsor
Cynthia M. Lummis
Senator · R-WY
Senator · R-WY
The bill redirects unobligated and future program funds toward additional, predictable highway and bridge spending that improves near‑term infrastructure capacity and planning, at the cost of reducing federal support and targeted funding for EV charging deployment and potentially slowing EV adoption and equity goals.
State and local governments receive additional, flexible highway and bridge funds above regular apportionments that can be used immediately for construction, preservation, and engineering projects, increasing capacity to maintain and upgrade transportation infrastructure.
States get a more predictable share and timing of unobligated and future program funds (annual distribution on Oct 1) and preserved availability periods for obligating those funds, aiding multi‑year planning and project continuity.
Drivers and freight operators benefit from funding for safety and operational projects (wildlife‑vehicle collision reduction and commercial motor vehicle parking), which can reduce crashes, vehicle damage, and improve supply‑chain efficiency and driver safety.
Electric‑vehicle drivers, clean‑energy advocates, and disadvantaged communities will lose access to NEVI funds: unobligated and future NEVI amounts are prohibited from EV charging use and targeted set‑asides may be cut, likely slowing EV charging network expansion and EV adoption.
State and local governments (and their contractors) face reduced discretion and possible delays because redistributed amounts may not be used for original program purposes and are subject to Federal‑aid obligation limitations, disrupting planning and slowing project obligation.
Taxpayers could face higher federal spending pressures and tradeoffs as unobligated funds are reallocated to highways/bridges (potentially without offsets), shifting resources away from national EV infrastructure objectives.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Repurposes unobligated and future NEVI and certain grant program funds to States for highway, bridge, wildlife‑collision, and commercial truck parking projects, prohibiting use for EV charging.
Official title: Authorize funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure programs to be used for other highway projects, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 13, 2025 by Cynthia M. Lummis · Last progress March 13, 2025
Redirects unspent and future federal EV charging program and related grant funds into traditional highway, bridge, and commercial motor vehicle parking projects and related preliminary engineering. The Department of Transportation must distribute these unobligated and future amounts to States by formula based on existing highway apportionment rules, make them available like Title 23 funds, and bar their use for NEVI charging or the original grant program purposes.