Lin found that FHWA lacked authority to rescind approvals for plans that had already cleared federal review, a move the court called "capricious," and unlawfully blocked access to congressionally apportioned funds.

Washington state officials, who led the multistate lawsuit, said the ruling restores certainty to a program designed to advance corridor charging construction nationwide. State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the federal government “cannot simply pause a program Congress explicitly authorized and funded,” adding that the ruling ensures states can proceed with infrastructure investments already approved under federal law.

The decision follows a Feb. 6, 2025, FHWA directive that rescinded prior NEVI guidance and suspended approval of all state EV infrastructure deployment plans while the agency reviewed the program. 

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Although FHWA allowed reimbursement of existing obligations during the pause, states were barred from obligating new NEVI funds, effectively freezing procurement pipelines tied to approved plans.

Operationally, the ruling restores a key mechanism for project delivery. Once a state’s NEVI plan is approved, federal agencies may not revoke that approval or block obligations absent clear authorization from Congress. By barring FHWA from suspending plan approvals, the order reopens access to unobligated NEVI funds for the plaintiff jurisdictions.

What the Ruling Changes for Project Delivery

The impact varies widely by state, depending on how much funding had already been committed and how far projects had advanced when the pause took effect.

Data Sidebar

A national map of designated electric vehicle alternative fuel corridors shows where NEVI-funded charging projects are concentrated. Click the image to see which states now have funding back in play and what moved next.

Map courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation

In states with large unobligated balances—including California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey—the decision clears the way for corridor charging projects that had stalled at the procurement or preconstruction stage to proceed. Other plaintiff states had already obligated most of their NEVI funds before the suspension.

For transportation agencies, the ruling resets bid calendars and procurement sequencing that had been left in limbo. Several states paused solicitations or delayed awards while awaiting clarity on whether plan approvals would stand, particularly for corridor packages requiring coordination with utilities and private charging operators.

In practical terms, the first projects likely to move are corridor packages that stalled after environmental clearance but before award, particularly those combining site work, conduit installation, transformer pads and utility make-ready for high-capacity fast chargers. 

In several plaintiff states, those projects had reached the point of issuing or evaluating requests for proposals when plan approvals were suspended, leaving contractors unable to price final scopes tied to utility coordination and interconnection schedules.

Michigan officials, also among the plaintiffs, said the ruling allows the state to move ahead with projects already planned under its federally approved deployment strategy. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office said the decision ensures NEVI funds “remain available to support EV charging infrastructure projects that were halted without legal justification.”

Industry groups said the decision was not unexpected but cautioned against assuming immediate construction impacts. 

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“These funding pauses and withholdings are an issue we’ve been following closely since the start of the administration,” said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and workforce at the Associated General Contractors of America. “So far, in every instance involving highway funding, they have not been successful. The law is extremely clear on the narrow reasons USDOT can withhold or rescind funds, so we were not surprised by the ruling.”

Turmail added that because USDOT renewed NEVI program funding last August, the court decision may not immediately change activity in all markets. AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson similarly cautioned that the ruling may not translate into a measurable near-term impact for most construction firms, depending on how quickly states restart procurement and advance projects.

The ruling directly affects the states and jurisdictions that filed the case, but its implications go further by limiting how USDOT administers formula programs once funds are apportioned and plans are approved. USDOT and FHWA did not respond to requests for comment on whether the agencies plan to appeal or how quickly plan approvals will resume.

For builders and designers, the key concern is timing. With unobligated NEVI funds again available in major states, transportation agencies are expected to act quickly to resume stalled solicitations and advance corridor charging projects toward construction as the upcoming build season nears.