Highway Funding Flexibility Act of 2025
The Highway Funding Flexibility Act of 2025 would give the federal government more leeway to redirect unobligated funds from electric vehicle charging infrastructure programs—the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and related Charging-Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program—into broader highway projects. Specifically, it allows funds that have not yet been obligated to be used for various highway activities (such as highway construction and bridge work, wildlife crossing projects, and parking for commercial vehicles) and to be carried forward or distributed to states for those uses in future years. It also creates set-asides and requires distributions to follow existing state apportionment formulas. The bill maintains compliance with existing program requirements but redefines how certain funds can be allocated and used. A parallel provision applies to the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program, permitting similar flexible use toward highway-related projects, with explicit restrictions so those funds cannot be used for other NEVI program purposes. In plain terms, the bill shifts some EV charging and related highway funds away from strictly funding charging networks toward broader highway needs, while still leaving room for targeted set-asides to support deployment where needed. The change could speed or increase traditional highway investments but may slow the expansion of EV charging infrastructure if funds are redirected away from NEVI activities.
Key Points
- 1Reallocation of unobligated NEVI Formula Program funds: Funds not yet obligated can be used for highway construction/rehabilitation, bridge projects, wildlife-vehicle mitigation (e.g., wildlife crossings), trucking-related parking, and related preliminary design work. They cannot be used for purposes described under the original NEVI program.
- 2Future-year distributions: For fiscal years after enactment, unobligated NEVI funds will be distributed to states on October 1 and used only for the highway purposes listed above, in line with the same set of eligible uses.
- 3Set-asides and guidance to states: The bill requires distributing unobligated funds set aside for the Joint Office and for grants to states/localities needing assistance with deploying EV charging infrastructure, with the distribution formula based on each state's share of total 104(c) or 165 apportionments.
- 4Treatment and availability: These reallocated funds are not subject to standard obligation limitations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety programs; they remain available for an extended period and are additive to other apportioned funds.
- 5Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program (Section 3): Unobligated grant funds would be distributed to states based on existing apportionment shares and used only for highway purposes described in the bill’s Section 2(b)(1)(A), not for other NEVI program purposes. These funds remain subject to obligations and other program requirements.