Trump Administration Targets California’s Authority Over Fuel Standards
In a significant move, the Trump administration is intensifying its efforts to challenge California’s authority in establishing national fuel-efficiency standards. Working with congressional Republicans, the administration is contemplating a legislative strategy to revoke California’s historic ability to set these standards.
According to two officials from the Trump administration, talks are currently underway to employ the Congressional Review Act as a means to terminate the long-standing waiver, which has granted California considerable influence over mileage standards. This act enables Congress to overturn government regulations within a specific timeframe with a simple majority. Recently, a Republican lawmaker from California proposed legislation to eliminate this federal waiver.
For many years, car manufacturers have tailored their production to align with California’s mileage standards. This is largely due to the state’s market size and the industry’s preference for stricter fuel efficiency standards amidst Washington’s frequently shifting political landscape.
California’s unique air pollution challenges, acknowledged since the Nixon era, have led the federal government to permit waivers of the Clean Air Act, allowing the state to impose stricter anti-pollution regulations than federal law requires. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under various administrations has consistently granted these waivers.
Molly Vaseliou, EPA’s associate administrator for public affairs, emphasized the broad impact of California’s waivers. “It’s not isolated to California. When EPA grants a waiver, every state has the option to follow California’s rules instead of the federal government’s rules,” said Vaseliou. “California’s policies are a national alternative.”
Vaseliou also noted, “It will take vehicle choice away from millions of Americans and increase the cost of gas cars and hybrids nationwide. It’s a major economic rule.”
Addressing the administration’s plan, which was initially reported by the New York Times, California Governor Gavin Newsom remarked, “It does not surprise me, their current stance, because it’s a stance that’s well established, not just by the Trump Administration 1.0, but by previous Republican administrations that have been trying to vandalize California’s waiver and pollution standards for decades.”
California, with Newsom’s backing, aims to ban the sale of new, gas-powered cars by 2035, a goal that federal regulators approved under President Biden’s administration through the Clean Air Act waiver.
The California waiver has sparked further debate as the EPA has permitted 11 other states to adopt these rigorous clean air rules, including the 2035 zero-emission vehicle mandate. Though these rules affect only a dozen states, Republicans argue they effectively set a national policy, as these states account for nearly half of the country’s car sales.
Lee Zeldin, EPA Administrator, recently submitted the waivers to Congress, expressing, “The Biden Administration failed to send rules on California’s waivers to Congress, preventing Members of Congress from deciding on extremely consequential actions that have massive impacts and costs across the entire United States.”
Representative Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) has already announced plans to introduce a resolution to reject the waiver. Kiley stated, “Californians should be able to choose the vehicle of their choice and should not have that choice dictated by Gavin Newsom or unelected bureaucrats.”
President Trump and some Republicans have questioned the scientific consensus on human-induced climate change, particularly emissions from vehicles. During his first term, Trump attempted to curb California’s influence on vehicle emissions by issuing a Department of Transportation rule preventing states from setting their own car pollution standards, consequently revoking California’s EPA waiver.
In response, California negotiated directly with automakers in 2019 to voluntarily reduce emissions, a move supported by five manufacturers. The Biden administration later reinstated California’s authority to set air quality rules.
Trump, along with attorneys general from 16 conservative states, previously contested California’s regulatory powers. However, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed this challenge, yet left room for a more restricted appeal.
The Government Accountability Office determined in 2023 that the California waiver is exempt from congressional review. Nevertheless, the EPA noted that similar agency rules have been subject to the Congressional Review Act despite GAO’s findings.
Dave Clegern, a spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board, has raised legal concerns regarding the Trump administration’s actions, stating, “The Trump EPA is doing what no EPA under Democratic or Republican administrations in 50 years has ever done, and what the GAO has confirmed does not comply with the law.”
Original Story at www.latimes.com