WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday granted two requests from California to enforce strict standards for vehicle emissions, including a rule aimed at banning sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035. The incoming Trump administration is likely to try to reverse the action.
The California rule is stricter than a federal rule adopted this year that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles.
EPA said its review found that opponents of the two waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the federal Clean Air Act.
“California has longstanding authority to request waivers from EPA to protect its residents from dangerous air pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Today’s actions follow through on EPA’s commitment to partner with states to reduce emissions and act on the threat of climate change.”
The new waiver is important not only to California, but to more than a dozen other states that follow its nation-leading standards on vehicle emissions.
Even so, the waiver is likely to be short-lived. President-elect Donald Trump has said he will move to revoke all California waivers as part of an industry-friendly approach that includes boosting production of fossil fuels and repealing key parts of a landmark 2022 climate law.
Trump rescinded California's authority on emissions in 2019, only to be reversed three years later by the Biden EPA, which restored the state’s authority in 2022.
Any effort by the new administration is likely to spawn a new set of legal challenges that could delay any action.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who often touts California's leadership on climate policy, has cited the advanced clean-cars rule as a key accomplishment.
Major automakers support the state standards “ and California is hitting our goals years ahead of schedule,” Newsom said earlier this year. “We won’t stop fighting to protect our communities from pollution and the climate crisis.”
Environmental groups hailed the new waiver.
“EPA’s approval is a critical step forward in protecting our lungs from pollution and our wallets from the expenses of combustion fuels,” said Paul Cort, director of Earthjustice’s Right To Zero campaign. “The gradual shift in car sales to zero-emissions models will cut smog and household costs while growing California’s clean energy workforce."
The EPA's action comes as the Supreme Court said last week that it will take up a business-backed appeal challenging an earlier California waiver issued by the Biden administration. The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by fuel producers who object to an EPA waiver granted in 2022. The waiver allows California to set more stringent emissions limits than the national standard.
The high court will not be reviewing the waiver itself, but instead will look at a related issue: whether fuel producers have legal standing to challenge the federal waiver. A federal appeals court ruled that the companies lacked the right to sue because they produced no evidence that they would be affected by the waiver, which directly affects vehicle manufacturers.
Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and other major automakers already are meeting the California emission standards, the Biden administration noted in court papers.
But the fuel producers told the high court that the appellate decision, if left in place, would “imperil future challenges to administrative action.”
