POLITICO
DOT halts Texas highway project in test of Biden’s promises on race
The department’s use of civil rights laws has buoyed activists on the ground and surprised even seasoned regulators in Washington.
A portion of Interstate 45 is seen in downtown Houston. | Paul Sancya/AP Photo
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President Joe Biden s Department of Transportation is invoking the Civil Rights Act to pause a highway project near Houston, a rare move that offers an early test of the administration s willingness to wield federal power to address a long history of government-driven racial inequities.
DOT s intervention follows complaints from local activists that the state s proposed widening of Interstate 45 would displace an overwhelmingly Black and Hispanic community, including schools, places of worship and more than 1,000 homes and businesses.
The plan to expand Interstate 45 hit a pair of roadblocks last week, when Harris County sued the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) asked the state agency to pause the project while it investigates environmental and civil rights concerns.
In a March 8 letter to TxDOT executive director James Bass, the FHWA said it was reviewing concerns raised under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related environmental justice concerns regarding TxDOT s proposed North Houston Highway Improvement Project, which is expected to cost more than $7 billion and displace more than 1,000 residents and businesses near and north of downtown.
Agriculture
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March 12, 2021
On Thursday, Harris County, Texas, filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and its executive director claiming that its approved plan for expanding Highway 45 (I-45) will be harmful to the environment and the people in the county and breaches federal laws.
Specifically, the county asked the Southern District of Texas for declaratory and injunctive relief based on breached provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Department of Transportation Act. It claimed that the project should have been considered more carefully, specifically in how it impacts the people, the region, and the environment.
How Streetsblog covered the story.
Earlier this week, officials at the Texas Division of the Federal Highway Administration asked the Texas Department of Transportation to stop soliciting contracts for its proposed $7-billion North Houston Highway Improvement Project, citing concerns that the proposal would violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by subjecting communities of color to increased levels of air pollution, displacement and flooding.
“To allow FHWA time to evaluate the serious Title VI concerns … we request TxDOT pause … until FHWA has completed its review,” Division Administrator Achille Alonzi wrote to TxDOT Executive Director James Bass on Monday, but not made public until Thursday.