Advanced Search
March 13, 2025
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a start-of-the-new-Congress briefing series, Climate Camp. We reviewed climate science, cutting-edge innovations, and the role of the legislative process in climate mitigation and adaptation.
The surface transportation bill reauthorizes federal highway, transit, and rail funding and programs every five years. This final briefing of EESI’s Congressional Climate Camp series provided a breakdown of everything decision-makers need to know ahead of the bill’s next reauthorization in 2026.
Panelists described the transportation bill’s history, including bipartisan cooperation, climate-related provisions, and external stakeholder engagement. Looking ahead, the briefing explained the general timeline for the reauthorization, the bill’s jurisdiction, and key issues across bill titles. The briefing also shared on-the-ground climate success stories from the most recent reauthorization—the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
View the full briefing series at eesi.org/2025climatecamps.
This briefing was part of a series focused on the role of federal transportation and infrastructure investments in strengthening communities, increasing economic opportunity, building resilience, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the lead up to the next surface transportation reauthorization bill. View the full briefing series at eesi.org/transit-briefings.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Benito Pérez, Policy Director, Transportation for America
Shruti Vaidyanathan, Director of Transportation Advocacy, Climate, and Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council
Jennifer Boysko, Virginia State Senator
Amber Dallman, Office of Sustainability and Public Health Director, Minnesota Department of Transportation
Q&A
Q: For Congressional staff who do not work directly on transportation issues, why is it important and beneficial to still pay attention to the surface transportation reauthorization?
Pérez
Vaidyanathan
Boysko
Dallman
Q: Less than three years ago, the IIJA became law. Did that benefit you in your states?
Q: Can you name a few examples of things you would like to see kept in this next reauthorization and things that should be changed?
Q: What ways are there to make the Highway Trust Fund solvent other than an electric vehicle tax?
Q: The last surface transportation bill became an infrastructure bill and included provisions that are not considered surface transportation-related. What is the expectation this year for a transportation bill to accept add-ons? What is the outlook for a surface transportation bill in the next year to two years?
Compiled by Hadley Brown and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.