WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration will seek to remove one of the environmental components from its Capital Investment Grants program, FTA administrator Marc Molinaro said today (Aug. 21, 2025).
The revision will remove “social cost of carbon” calculations from the ratings criteria used to award those grants — the federal government’s largest program to fund major transit projects, including all forms of rail transit. It would be replaced by an older measure, the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which measures the levels of six pollutants.
The social cost of carbon measure, explained here, estimates in dollars the economic damages that result from emitting a ton of carbon dixode into the atmosphere, providing a basis for comparative measure of the climate-change impact of various courses of action.
The FTA has published the proposed policy change in the Federal Register, and is soliciting comment through Sept. 2. The agency says the action reflects requirements under three executive orders signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
“President Trump charged the Department of Transportation with unleashing American energy so we can lower costs and grow the economy,” Molinaro said in a press release. “… These proposed actions remove unnecessary regulatory requirements and provide the best support possible for locally driven transit projects.”
The FTA has also published a Request for Information regarding possible changes to the Capital Investment Grants program of a more extensive nature. Comments on that request are due by Sept. 18.
