The Committee “encourage[d] FDA to provide clarity around labeling of plant-based foods that use traditional meat, dairy, and egg terminology especially as it relates to such product labels with clear and conspicuous descriptors such plant-based, veggie, vegetarian, or vegan.”

The content and restrictions of these laws vary widely. Some statutes permit “qualified labels” that either include “plant-based,” “vegan,” or other language indicating that the food is plant-based on the packaging “prominently” or “conspicuously.”

“It shall be unlawful for any person . . . to label, advertise, or otherwise represent any food produced or sold in this state as meat or any product from an animal unless each product is clearly labeled by displaying the following terms prominently and conspicuously on the front of the package . . . [for] plant based products as “vegetarian,” “veggie,” “vegan,” “plant based,” or other similar term indicating that the product is plant based and does not include the flesh, offal, or other by-product of any part of the carcass of a live animal that has been slaughtered.”

Whether or not it’s a meaningless phrase, it seems in the article you provided they’re still at least correlating the terms “plant-based” and “vegan”, if not equating them.