The North -American Department of Transportation violated the law when suspended the National Program for Electric Vehicle Formulas, says that a report by the United States Government Accounting Office published on May 22. He claims that agency officials say that the program was not implemented well and that most of its funding has not been activated by states.
The Congress created the EV financing program through the Investment and Infrastructure job Law of 2021 to promote state efforts to deploy and maintain the electric vehicle loading infrastructure. The legislators appropriated $ 5 billion for the program, with most of the money provided for in states in the sections each year from 2022 to 2026, less a percentage to cover operations and administration and $ 300 million for financing a joint energy and transport office to provide technical assistance and develop training and certification programs.
In February, Dot issued a notification note on the notification that was canceling the previous guidelines of the program and suspend all the plans that were presented in the program. In addition, Dot officials said that no new expenditure obligations could be incorporated into the program until they issued new guidelines and approved new state plans, although adding hat money would continue to go out to the existing project agreements.
However, this movement violated the law covering the government’s expenditure obligations, as well as the Coverage Control Act, found Gao researchers, because the funds were really obliged when they were made available to the program each year, instead of when project agreements were signed. They wrote the funds inappropriately.
Gao researchers wrote that “they do not take a position on the program’s goals and that it should not be interpreted as the underlying policies involved.
A spokesman for the department said in a statement that the GAO report “shows a complete misunderstanding of the law.” As they said, the conclusion of the report enters with the intention of Congress and how the legislators structure the program.
Dot is reviewing and updating the EV program guide because the implementation “failed miserably, the spokesman added. The agency” will continue to work in good faith to update the program, so it can be used more effectively and effectively.
The GAO report comes when Dot is already facing a federal demand from a coalition of states on the freezing of the program.
Representative Rick Larsen (D-Wash), a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Chamber Committee, said in a statement that Dot “must [the program] By releasing funds in the states, period. “”
He added: “Flash news for Trump Administration: You can’t simply ignore the law when you do not agree with it.”
