One way to address this would be to site charging infrastructure at highway rest stops. A major obstacle stands in the way. Since 1958, a
federal law has prohibited “automotive service stations or other commercial establishments for serving motor vehicle users to be constructed or located on the rights-of-way of the Interstate System.” The gas stations and restaurants that dot the interstate in more populous areas all pre-date that law; the vending machines, stacks of tourism brochures, and bathrooms at sparser stops are all that states can construct at these sites. The original purpose of the law was to protect main streets across America from retail competition along the new federal highways; decades later, a
powerful alliance of truck stops (located just off the highway), the vending machine industry, and the National Federation for the Blind keep this structure in place. (Retail competition remains the concern; in addition, blind vendors are given priority in competitive bidding for highway vending machine supply under the
Randolph-Sheppard Act.) The penalty for a non-compliant state is the loss of federal highway funds.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
sought public input in 2016 on the question of how to interpret the law in the modern era. Specifically, the FHWA sought comment on what might fall into the vending machine exception “considering advances in technology,” and what other commercial activities might be consistent with these exceptions. This might have included EV charging infrastructure, though that infrastructure was not specifically named. In any event, the administration changed before action could be taken on the comments submitted.
Fast forward to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. As observed by the FHWA, “States have been forced to close restaurants and other available food service accommodations, including in Interstate Highway rest areas.” In response, the FHWA issued a
Notice of Enforcement Discretion on April 3, stating that “if a State determines that permitting food trucks to operate and sell food in any designated federally funded Interstate Highway rest areas is necessary to support interstate commercial truck drivers, FHWA will refrain from taking any remedial action under the Federal-aid highway program against that State.”
From
Arkansas to
West Virginia, states across the alphabet and around the country began permitting food trucks for rest areas. Rig drivers have reported eating
funnel cake and
tacos from these establishments since they began dotting the interstate landscape. But these food trucks may be doing something else—opening travelers’ eyes to the possibilities of expanded commercial options at rest areas. One of these could be EV charging—and Section 1211 of the House-passed version of the Highway Reauthorization Bill would
authorize installation of this infrastructure. (It remains unclear how highway reauthorization will proceed over the next two months.)
The measure to authorize rest stop EV charging faces stiff opposition. The National Association of Truck Stop Operators had been fighting the food trucks; now they are
pushing for removal of the EV amendment. Moreover, the bill still needs to get through the Senate. However, the softening of the federal government to new commercial activity in America’s rest areas during the pandemic may suggest a path forward for highway EV charging.
About the Author
Kate Konschnik is director of the Climate and Energy Program at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and a senior lecturing fellow at Duke Law School.
