What happened: ARTBA this week weighed in with the Biden administration on multiple regulatory issues. The association:
- Urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to work collaboratively with industry as it reviews existing regulations for impacts on climate change and equity.
- Opposed a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal repealing clarifications to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. ARTBA believes the clarifications are necessary to differentiate between accidental impacts to bird populations at construction sites as opposed to intentionally harms.
- Opposed a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency effort to repeal a rule that all future Clean Air Act regulatory proposals evaluate economic costs. In June 9 testimony, ARTBA Vice President of Regulatory and Legal Issues Nick Goldstein emphasized that cost analysis is necessary to know the complete impacts of upcoming proposed rules.
Separately, EPA also announced June 9 that it intends to review the Trump administration’s Navigable Water Protection Rule (NWPR), which clarified that roadside ditches are not “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The Biden administration has criticized NWPR as not providing enough protection to U.S. waters. ARTBA is defending NWPR in multiple federal court cases. The association will engage EPA on this issue as we have since the original WOTUS rule was promulgated in 2015.
Why it matters: All four regulatory proceedings represent federal agencies acting on executive orders from President Joe Biden to review regulations promulgated by the Trump administration. This is likely to be an ongoing theme throughout the Biden administration.
What’s next: ARTBA will continue to monitor all of the Biden administration’s major regulatory initiatives that impact the transportation construction industry and report key developments to members.
