美国运输部正在为一项新的基础设施投资和就业法案计划开放，该计划在五年内授权了64亿美元的项目，以减少运输来源的碳排放。18luck官网

The IIJA was signed into law on Nov. 15, but its new programs, including the one aimed at trimming carbon emissions, were bottled up until a full-year 2022 appropriations package was enacted on March 15.

In formally kicking off the Carbon Reduction Program on April 21, DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement, “As the sector generating the most carbon emissions in the U.S. economy, transportation must play a leading role in solving the climate crisis.”

DOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the program's five-year, state-by-state funding allocations. California ranks first, with $555 million, followed by Texas, with $641 million and Florida, with $320 million.

Pennsylvania is fourth, with $265 million; Illinois is fifth, with $226 million.

该计划的2022年总体授权，即《基础设施法》的第一年，约为12亿美元。

FHWA also released a memorandum to outline how the program will be implemented.

A wide variety of project types are eligible for the carbon reduction funds, including off-road trails for pedestrians and bicyclists, bus rapid transit lines, intelligent transportation systems and infrastructure for charging electric vehicles or for fueling vehicles powered by hydrogen, natural gas or propane.

Also eligible are purchases of zero-emission construction equipment and vehicles and projects that speed the flow of traffic but do not include constructing lanes to add road capacity.

States must "suballocate" 65% of their annual shares of the Carbon Reduction Program funds to jurisdictions that range from those with a population of less than 5,000, to urbanized areas with more than 200,000 in population. The suballocations are to be proportional to their relative shares of a state's total population.

But the memo says states can use "other factors," with U.S. DOT approval.

The program gives states and other recipients of carbon program funding substantial flexibility in how they put the dollars to use.

For example, the program and funds fall under the Federal Highway Administration but states and other jurisdictions can "flex," or transfer, them to be used on projects that fall under the Federal Transit Administration's responsibilities.

The program also requires states to draw up carbon reduction “strategies,” by Nov. 15, 2023, though funds for carbon-reducing projects can flow before the plans are completed.

Steve Davis, assistant vice president of transportation strategy with advocacy group SmartGrowth America, says the Carbon Reduction Program, and the IIJA are each a "mixed bag."

Davis told ENR via email, "It is absolutely a notable and important step forward that Congress has devoted significant funds to projects that are aimed at reducing emissions."

他补充说：“但是，没有真正保证这些资金会导致衡量的[温室气体]排放，因为国会赋予各州的广泛纬度，可以轻松将这些美元完全从计划中转移出来，或者将它们用于具有可疑利益的项目18luck官网用于减少排放。”

Senior Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee criticized the FHWA guidance memo.

Reps. Sam Graves (Mo.), the committee's top Republican, and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the ranking GOP member on the highways and transit subcommittee, said in a joint statement that "the Biden administration doubled down on discouraging states from building new roads they may need, despite this policy being in direct conflict with what Congress intended in the recent infrastructure law."

Davis, Graves and other Republicans on the committee had urged the administration to rescind an earlier guidance memorandum that dealt with other FHWA programs in the IIJA.