🔧 Regulatory Reform

Return to the "Rule on Rules" (RIN 2105-AE84):

Advocates restoring the Trump-era rule which clarified that guidance documents are not binding and aimed to eliminate outdated regulations.

Argues Biden-era changes increase bureaucracy and cost.

🏗️ Build America Bureau (BAB)

BAB provides subsidized loans for infrastructure projects.

Concerns:

BAB loans could crowd out private financing.

Loans must be tightly underwritten to prevent hidden grants.

Recommendations:

Require investment-grade credit ratings and repayment accountability.

Perform cost-benefit analyses to measure private sector disintermediation.

Structure loans to manage interest rate risks.

🤝 Public–Private Partnerships (P3s)

Encouraged for their efficiency, innovation, and risk transfer.

Key Points:

P3s can reduce lifecycle costs but not total funding needs (still reliant on taxes or user fees).

Require rigorous value-for-money studies to justify use.

Caution against opaque contracts and long-term user fee commitments.

Best suited for risky or unfamiliar projects (e.g., tunnels, light rail).

🚘 Emerging Technologies and Automated Vehicles

Supports:

Tech-neutral approach focusing on safety and innovation.

Reviving AV regulatory updates stalled under Biden.

Voluntary data sharing over mandatory data collection.

Critical of:

Biden's focus on EVs and transit incentives.

Advocates:

Protecting transportation’s access to radio spectrum for AVs.

Updating NHTSA and FMCSA regulations to accommodate AVs.

Maintaining DOT’s role over EPA or other agencies in vehicle standards.

🚗 Fuel Economy and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards

Criticizes:

Biden Administration’s aggressive EV push and fuel economy rules.

EPA’s role in setting de facto fuel standards via CO₂ rules.

California’s waiver to set its own standards, seen as national policy by proxy.

Claims:

Higher vehicle costs discourage new car purchases, increasing traffic deaths (due to older, less-safe vehicles).The EV push increases dependency on foreign minerals and strains the grid.

Recommends:

Return to ~35 MPG average fuel economy standard.

Reassert DOT (via NHTSA) as the sole authority on fuel economy standards.

Scale back EPA's overlapping CO₂ regulations to avoid duplication/conflict.

💡 Policy Themes & Takeaways

Limited Government & Deregulation: Preference for streamlined rules, less federal intervention, and minimizing compliance burdens.

Private Sector Emphasis:

Support for market-driven development (e.g., P3s), competition, and innovation.

Anti-Centralization: Pushback against perceived overreach by federal agencies like the EPA or state regulators like California’s CARB.

Cost and Risk Accountability:

Emphasis on financial discipline in federal infrastructure loans and ensuring long-term cost efficiency.

Skepticism of EV Mandates:

Framed as costly, unpopular, and geopolitically risky due to reliance on foreign supply chains.