The American Power Act - First Read (cont.) Clean Transportation
Title I, subtitle E, is titled "Clean Transportation" and contains three parts. Part I directs DOE to study electric car infrastructure, run pilot projects, and hire one dedicated worker to do planning, all with an "aspirational goal" of deployment by 2020. No money is appropriated for these efforts. (Sec. 1701). Part III (Sec. 1721) references the allocation of CO2 allowances to the Highway Trust Fund to "promote the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of transportation in the United States..."The key provisions, however, are in Part II (Sec. 1711) and relate to GHG emission reductions through "transportation efficiency."
Essentially, the Power Act authorizes EPA and the Department of Transportation to set emissions limits for the transportation sector, and then requires States and empowers "Metropolitan Planning Organizations" (MPOs) to develop strategies to meet these limits, subject to DOT review. (Sec. 803b and 803c). These "strategies" include ride-share mandates, mass transit requirements, and so forth. Funding for the strategies is in the form of a distribution of CO2 emission allowances from DOT to qualifying States and/or MPOs. Paradoxically, the Power Act explicitly provides land use authority remains in the hands of local governments.
