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The bill makes Interstate rest areas available for EV charging and simplifies government deployment while protecting rest areas from broad commercialization — but it shifts potential costs and revenue impacts onto states and taxpayers and may cause short-term implementation confusion.
Drivers of electric vehicles (including rural and urban residents and taxpayers who drive EVs) gain access to EV charging at Interstate rest areas, improving long-distance EV usability and reducing range-anxiety for interstate travel.
State and local governments can deploy EV charging infrastructure at Interstate rest areas without needing new right-of-way commercial authorizations, simplifying approvals and accelerating installation timelines.
State governments and taxpayers are protected from broad commercialization of Interstate rights-of-way by a clarified savings clause that preserves rest area purposes and limits unwanted commercial development.
State governments and taxpayers could incur upfront installation costs and ongoing electricity and maintenance expenses for EV chargers if private funding or user fees do not cover them.
Limiting commercial uses at rest areas to preserve their purpose may reduce revenue opportunities for states that rely on concessions, advertising, or other commercial activities.
Amendments that remove EV language from MAP-21 and narrow statutory references could create short-term legal or administrative confusion during implementation for state and local agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress August 1, 2025
Allows the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to permit electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for passenger cars at Interstate rest areas even where current rules generally limit commercial activities, while saying no other commercial uses are allowed. Makes small statutory wording edits elsewhere to reflect this change and clarifies the law does not alter existing authority of the President or federal agencies under the same statute. The bill does not appropriate money, set a funding source, or create new programs—it only changes what infrastructure the Secretary may allow on Interstate rights-of-way and adds related technical edits to other highway statutes.