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2/18/2021
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) this week rescinded Trump administration guidance for how the federal government would consider applications for project funding under the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program.
The policy prohibited states and local entities from using federal loans as part of their local funding match when applying for grants. Critics of the policy said it established barriers to certain transit projects from qualifying for CIG dollars.
In a Feb. 16 "Dear Colleague Letter," the FTA said it will now "rely on the CIG statutory framework" to ensure that projects have met federal transportation law, the Major Capital Investment Projects Final rule, and the CIG Final Interim Policy Guidance published in June 2016.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and other Democratic lawmakers had encouraged President Joe Biden's administration to rescind the FTA policy.
"The Trump administration's guidance that put up artificial barriers to critical transit projects is exactly where it should be — in the trash bin," DeFazio said in a prepared statement.
An example of transit projects that faced such barriers is the Gateway program, which includes plans to replace the 110-year-old Portal Bridge and construct a new trans-Hudson rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said the Trump policy was established in part to "delay and derail" the Gateway project.
"Much like a mortgage loan to buy a house, federal loans that must be repaid by states and other local entities applying for federal transportation grants have long been considered as part of the local funding match," said Menendez in a press release.
Menendez said he emphasized Gateway's importance when he met with Pete Buttigieg prior to his Senate confirmation as the Biden administration's transportation secretary. In that meeting, Buttigieg expressed support for Gateway and pledged to end the political interference that has slowed the project, Menendez said.