Central Montana Times

U.S. Senator Steve Daines has joined a bicameral amicus brief aimed at overturning a rule from the Biden-Harris Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The rule mandates that state governments measure greenhouse gas emissions on highway systems and set targets for reduction.

"This rule is just another example of the Biden-Harris administration’s executive overreach that attacks our Montana way of life and does nothing but fuel climate alarmism," said Daines. "I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and the incoming Trump administration to reverse the radical climate agenda that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tried to force on Montanans."

The FHWA's final rule, adopted in November 2023, requires state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to measure greenhouse gas emissions on highways and establish declining targets. This regulation faced immediate legal challenges from 21 state attorneys general. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky ruled against the Biden administration's regulation, but FHWA appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, where it remains under review.

In a related case, Texas filed suit against FHWA, resulting in the Northern District of Texas vacating the Biden rule. The Department of Transportation has since appealed this decision. Today, Daines joined his colleagues in submitting a separate bicameral amicus brief urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the district court's ruling.

The brief contends that Congress had debated and rejected granting FHWA authority for GHG performance measure rules. It argues that FHWA misconstrued Congressional intent to justify its actions and claims that this rulemaking contradicts recent Supreme Court decisions limiting Executive Branch overreach while bypassing federalism principles.