Transportation Department Ends DEI, Environmental Agendas in Infrastructure Decisions

The equity and greenhouse gas emission initiatives of the Biden administration added ’meritless and costly burdens,' the agency said.

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy rescinded two memos issued during the Biden administration that promoted “a social justice and environmental agenda” in decisions related to critical infrastructure projects, the agency said in a March 10 statement.

The memos, both titled “Policy on Using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Resources to Build a Better America,” were issued in December 2021 and February 2023.

The February memo, which superseded the earlier one, aimed to guide the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regarding using resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law when working with state transportation departments. It characterized delivering “equitable transportation options” as an effective way to use federal funds.

One of FHWA’s goals, the memo said, was to address “environmental impacts ranging from storm water runoff to greenhouse gas emissions.” This conflicts with the intent of Congress and the Administrative Procedure Act, the DOT said in its recent statement.

The memos “displaced the long-standing authorities granted to States by law,” while the equity and greenhouse gas emission initiatives added “meritless and costly burdens,” the agency said.

Duffy said that under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the DOT is “getting back to basics,” focusing on building infrastructure projects to transport people and commerce.

“The previous administration flouted Congress in an attempt to push a radical social and environmental agenda on the American people. This was an act of federal overreach. It stops now,” he said.

The DOT decision comes after Trump issued a presidential action on Jan. 20 on “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.”

It criticized the Biden administration’s push for including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives into “virtually all aspects of the Federal Government.”

The action called on agencies to terminate all DEI initiatives, equity programs, and environmental justice offices and positions “to the maximum extent allowed by law.”

The Transportation Department has already taken several steps in this regard.

On Jan. 29, Duffy approved a proposal to revoke a December 2023 rule aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles on national highways.

“The rescission reflects the Administration’s commitment to unleashing American energy and eliminating unlawful regulatory burdens,” the DOT said at the time.

On the same day, Duffy signed a memo directing agency officials to “identify and eliminate all Biden-era programs, policies, activities, rules, and orders that promote climate change activism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, racial equity, gender identity policies, environmental justice, and other partisan objectives.”