Judge blocks Trump from withholding funds for electric vehicle charger infrastructure

A federal judge issued a ruling on Tuesday preventing the Trump administration from withholding funds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure from 14 states.

U.S. District Court Judge Tana Lin said the administration has surpassed constitutional authority by refusing to disperse the dollar attached to the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act passed by former President Biden.

The program was created to help eliminate range anxiety in electric vehicles, which is defined as the uneasiness of electric vehicles (“ev”) drivers who are unsure of the next charging station and whether their car’s battery charge is sufficient to bring it there.

“Congress allocates $5 billion to fund the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (“NEVI”) formula program, whose purpose is – and remains – ’strategically deploying EV charging infrastructure and building an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access and reliability,” Lim’s order. ”

However, the U.S. Department of Transportation suspended the plan in February and canceled the approval of the national plan, awaiting review.

According to Lin’s order, the EV infrastructure program will be restored in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

The ruling does not apply to Minnesota, the District of Columbia and Vermont, and Lin said the ruling failed to prove the harm immediately after the DOT decision.

The Trump administration now has seven days to appeal the order before it takes effect.

The White House did not immediately respond to Hill’s request for comment on the matter.

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