GREEN Streets Act

Generating Resilient, Environmentally Exceptional National Streets Act or the GREEN Streets Act

This bill establishes national goals to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improve the resilience of the transportation system.

Specifically, the bill directs

• the Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish minimum standards for states to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) on the National Highway System;
• DOT to establish measures for states to assess and reduce carbon dioxide;
• states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to consider projects and strategies that reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and decrease per capita VMTs;
• states and MPOs to publish an analysis of the impact on per capita VMTs and mobile source greenhouse gas emissions for each project that adds new lanes or otherwise increases traffic capacity and costs more than $25 million;
• states that are out of compliance with the per capita VMT standards or carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emission measures to dedicate federal highway funding to achieve compliance; and
• DOT to establish national transit access standards and performance measures for transit accessibility, transit stop distance, and transit mode share.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov