Colorado Leads 16 States Suing FHWA to Recoup $1B in EV Grants
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A consortium of 16 states over the Trump administration’s termination of $1 billion in previously approved federal grants allocated for construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The group — which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and Vermont — by blocking the funds, which were approved by Congress as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
The funding was allocated under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant program, which allocated $5 billion for states to develop EV charging infrastructure.
On Feb. 6, FHWA issued a letter to state DOT directors suspending NEVI grants. Per the lawsuit, the agency rescinded all versions of NEVI program guidance, revoked all prior approvals of state implementation plans and decreed that no new grants would be issued until updated program guidance was released. Any new state implementation plans also must be approved.
President Donald Trump in an executive order directed FHWA to pause the funding, but the states maintain that FHWA’s actions doing so violate the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. Per federal data, the APA governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations, including requirements for publishing notices of proposed and final rulemakings. It also addresses agency actions such as issuance of policy statements, licenses and permits.
Duffy. (Rod Lamkey Jr./Associated Press)
The 61-page legal complaint and 30-page motion for preliminary injunction was filed May 6 in the U.S. District Court Western District of Washington and names Sean Duffy in his capacity as transportation secretary and Gloria Shepherd in her official role as FHWA acting administrator.
In it, the states take specific issue with language in Trump’s “” executive order, which advances the president’s longstanding assertion that the previous administration was advancing a so-called “EV mandate.”
“The federal government [has] never adopted any such ‘EV mandate,’” the suit maintains. “But in the name of eliminating this fictional mandate, the Executive Order directs the Federal Highway Administration to usurp the legislative and spending powers reserved to Congress by withholding congressionally appropriated funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure required by statute to be distributed to states.”
The lawsuit claims FHWA is withholding billions of dollars in . “Collectively, plaintiff states have been immediately and indefinitely deprived of access to approximately $1 billion in available NEVI Formula Program funds for those four fiscal years,” the lawsuit states.
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The suit is the latest of 18 Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed against the Trump administration. “Colorado has already made significant progress in developing the foundation for infrastructure needed for widespread electric vehicle adoption, and the state’s federally approved plans were designed to fill gaps in rural Colorado and other underserved communities,” he said in a May 7 statement. “Congress had the foresight to authorize funding to build this important infrastructure, and it must be restored immediately.”
California intended to use NEVI funds for 63,000 fast-charging stations, but companies that won contracts are delaying work or backing out due to the stalled funding. “Without its share of NEVI Formula Program funds, the success of California’s zero-emission transportation policies will be seriously impeded, and California will be forced to identify other, less cost-effective funding sources,” the lawsuit noted.
In Washington, the state’s Department of Transportation has received 40 proposals for up to $25 million in projects but cannot move forward on any due to the lack of funds.
A spreadsheet posted online Feb. 6 by FHWA showed total expenditures for all states and territories amounted to $44.42 million (1.3%) out of $3.27 billion authorized as of that date.
The Feb. 6 FHWA letter noted NEVI grants differ from other federal grants by requiring agency approval for each state plan, including details on how federal funds will be spent along with implementation plans.
