VTrans: federal pause has put NEVI, Carbon Reduction and PROTECT funds on hold; about $40M+ in Vermont projects affected

Vermont Agency of Transportation officials told the House Transportation Committee on Feb. 11 that federal action to pause implementation of several Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA/“Bipartisan Infrastructure Law”) programs has frozen most unobligated NEVI, Carbon Reduction Program and PROTECT funds, delaying EV charging, resilience and bike/ped projects.

Andrea Wright, environmental policy manager at VTrans, and Patrick Murphy, state policy director, briefed committee members on the Environmental Policy & Sustainability program budget and how federal pauses and new guidance have affected projects awarded in recent solicitations.

Wright said the state’s NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) apportionment is roughly $21.2 million over five years. Federal fiscal years 2022–2024 provided about $12.1 million in available NEVI funding for Vermont; to date the agency had awarded funding to 12 locations (11 awards in the recent round plus an earlier Bradford award), and had put nine of the fall awards on hold after receiving federal notice to pause. The only NEVI project that had advanced to an obligated federal construction authorization was the Bradford site, Wright said; that project has roughly $630,000 in federal obligations.

Wright described the NEVI contracts and solicitation steps: projects require federal authorizations tied to environmental reviews and right‑of‑way certifications before construction funds become “obligated.” Because many of the recent awards had not reached that authorization step, FHWA’s pause led VTrans to issue stop‑work or pause guidance for nine of the awards.

On the Carbon Reduction Program, Wright said Vermont’s apportionment over the program is about $32 million. The agency received roughly $19.3 million for federal fiscal years 2022–2024 and had allocated funds among bike/ped grants, transit electrification and fleet conversion. Awards had been made for several bike/ped projects and for transit/fleet activities, but only about $3.5 million had been obligated to date; the remainder was at risk while federal guidance was under review.

On the PROTECT (Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost‑saving Transportation) resilience program, Wright said Vermont was slated to receive roughly $37 million. Some PROTECT funds had been obligated for incremental resilience costs and planning; VTrans had a plan for obligating the remaining funds but said the program had also been paused pending federal review.

Committee members pressed VTrans for a clearer accounting of what award amounts and projects are paused. Wright said she would follow up with a project‑level spreadsheet and noted that some programs allow flexibility to move funds among eligible categories, which complicates a single “dollar‑frozen” figure. A staff estimate provided during the hearing put the total at roughly $40–42 million of unobligated federal IIJA‑era funds in Vermont that are currently affected by the pauses, depending on how flexed funds are counted.

Murphy said the agency had prepared plans and solicitations to deploy NEVI funds and had made 11 awards (plus the earlier Bradford project), with six sites under contract and five in negotiations when the pause was issued. He said that contractors generally do not purchase major equipment or begin full construction until the federal authorization and obligation steps are complete, which limits the state’s exposure to unrecoverable vendor costs prior to obligation.

Wright also summarized other federal program details: VTrans had applied for a mileage‑based user fee (MBUF) grant and had been successful in a competitive application (amount and full details to be provided to the committee). She said the agency was monitoring guidance for NEVI resubmissions and other program rules and planned to update the committee after a scheduled meeting with federal program staff.

Ending: Committee members asked that VTrans produce a concise, project‑level list of awards and obligation status for NEVI, Carbon Reduction and PROTECT funds. VTrans agreed to provide a follow‑up spreadsheet after federal program consultations so the committee can identify which projects are at risk and which can proceed under existing obligations.