SACRAMENTO, California — California can continue to set its own industry-leading vehicle emissions standards, a federal court ruled Tuesday — two years after the Biden administration restored the state’s authority to do so as part of its efforts to undo Trump-era environmental rollbacks to make.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit blocked an attempt by Ohio, Alabama, Texas and other Republican-led states to revoke California’s authority to set standards that are stricter than federal government rules . The court ruled that the states failed to prove how California emissions standards would drive up the cost of gas-powered vehicles in their states.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who often praises the state’s leadership on climate policy, said the court’s ruling reaffirmed California’s ability to combat the public health and environmental impacts of vehicle emissions.
“The transition to clean vehicles is already here – it’s where the industry is headed, the major automakers support our standards and California is meeting our goals years ahead of schedule,” he said in a statement. “We will not stop fighting to protect the car. protecting our communities from pollution and the climate crisis.”
The ruling comes ahead of the presidential election, the outcome of which could determine the fate of environmental regulations in California and the nation as a whole. Then-President Donald Trump’s administration revoked California’s ability to enforce its own emissions standards in 2019, but President Biden later restored the state’s authority. At the federal level, Biden has pledged that by 2030, zero-emission vehicles will make up half of U.S. new car and truck sales.
In 2022, Ohio led a coalition of states in filing a petition to try to block California’s ability to enforce its own vehicle emissions standards, saying it had violated the U.S. Constitution and infringed on the authority of the federal government.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office did not respond to email and telephone requests for comment on the ruling.
For decades, California has been able to request a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set its own vehicle emissions regulations. These rules are stricter than federal standards because California, the nation’s most populous state, has the most cars on the road and struggles to meet air quality standards. Other states could sign up to adopt California’s emissions rules if they are approved by the federal government.
Challenges to California’s authority to set vehicle emissions standards date back to when George W. Bush was president in the 2000s, said Ann Carlson, a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Carlson — who previously served as acting administrator under the Biden administration of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which sets fuel economy rules — said the federal government often follows California’s lead on vehicle emissions regulations if they are ultimately successful and cost-effective.
The state’s authority to set its own standards “has really kept vehicle emissions from completely stagnating,” Carlson said.
California is asking the federal government for a waiver to ban the sale of all new gas-powered cars by 2035. Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and other major automakers have already agreed to follow California’s vehicle emissions standards. The state has also passed rules in recent years to phase out sales of new fossil-fueled lawn mowers, large trucks that transport goods through ports and diesel-powered trains.
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Sophie Austin reported from Sacramento. Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna
