"The Trump administration wants to redistribute $2.4 billion it pulled from California's high-speed rail project as part of a new $5 billion program announced Monday to fund rail projects to boost passenger rail traffic nationwide. The new program's rules for states and others wanting to participate remove any mention of diversity or climate change dating to the Biden administration. The new program will also put a priority on projects in areas with higher rates of birth and marriage and projects that improve safety at railroad crossings."
"The Trump administration has removed climate change and so-called DEI language from other grant requirements, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took a jab at that Biden-era language and California Gov. Gavin Newsom's rail project in his announcement. "Our new National Railroad Partnership Program will emphasize safety - our number one priority - without the radical ... DEI and green grant requirements. Instead of wasting dollars on Governor Newsom's high-speed rail boondoggle, these targeted investments will improve the lives of rail passengers, local drivers, and pedestrians," Duffy said."
The administration redirected $2.4 billion originally allocated to California's high-speed rail into a new $5 billion National Railroad Partnership Program to fund passenger rail projects nationwide. Program rules eliminate references to diversity and climate considerations that dated to the prior administration and prioritize projects in areas with higher birth and marriage rates and those that improve safety at railroad crossings. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy framed the initiative as focused on safety and criticized the California project for cost overruns. California officials say they will contest the funding redistribution and have filed a lawsuit challenging the decision.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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