The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Thursday it had saved $90 billion in regulatory costs due to regulatory reform efforts by the Trump administration.
Since 2017, USDOT has seen increased cost savings year after year and has already surpassed its Fiscal Year 2020 goal of $40 billion in net cost savings.
“Tackling overly bureaucratic, inflexible, outdated government regulations that don’t contribute to increased safety benefits the public, helps spur economic growth and creates jobs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
USDOT said it has exceeded the regulatory budgeting goals established under President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13771, which requires that for every new regulation an agency establishes, it must do away with two regulations and do so in a way that doesn’t increase costs.
At its peak, USDOT said, the agency was issuing 23 deregulatory actions for every new regulatory action it implemented.
Those reforms included:
• SAFE Vehicles Rule, issued with the Environmental Protection Agency, reduces regulatory costs by $163 billion and boosts new vehicle sales by up to 2.7 million vehicles in model year 2029;
• Hours of Service Rule, which provides flexibility for commercial truck drivers and saves nearly $4 billion per year;
• LNG by Rail that will enhance the country’s energy infrastructure by allowing liquefied natural gas to be transported by rail.
The department said it continues to maintain the largest number of regulatory reform actions of any federal agency or department.