Democratic attorneys general on Friday are threatening a massive legal battle with the Environmental Protection Agency over the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era clean car rules.
Friday is the deadline for public comments on EPA’s joint proposal with the Department of Transportation to roll back corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, and greenhouse gas emission regulations for cars and light trucks.
The administration’s rule, called the Safe and Affordable Fuel Efficient rule, or SAFE, cuts off the Obama administration’s strict fuel-cutting requirements based on the threat they pose to public safety.
The SAFE rule’s premise is that pushing fleet-wide fuel efficiency requirements up from 35 to 54 miles-per-gallon, as called for by the previous administration, would increase traffic fatalities, because it would compel automakers to use lighter materials to comply with the stricter standards.
The basis of the proposed regulation is both factually and legally specious, according to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who will be leading a group of Democratic attorneys general in submitting comments to the EPA on Friday.
The Trump clean car proposal will only drive up costs for consumers, harming low-income households the most with higher fuel costs, while driving up asthma rates and premature deaths, said David Hayes, executive director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, who held a call earlier this week with Becerra and other attorneys general to preview the comments.
“Attorney General Xavier Becerra has been leading the multi-state effort against the Trump administration’s roll-back plan and its attempt to freeze fuel efficiency standards and revoke California’s Clean Air Act waiver to set its own emissions standards,” said Hayes.
The auto industry has been complying with strict fuel economy standards for years, and had a hand in designing those proposed under the Obama-era rules before convincing the current administration that they needed to be changed, according to Hayes.
But the attorneys general will also be spelling out the legal failings of the Trump clean car proposal under a number of laws.
“We are going to defend them because we believe the actions by the federal government are not only wrong, but they’re illegal,” Becerra said on the call.
He alleges that the rules proposed by EPA and the Department of Transportation “violate numerous procedural requirements,” including the Administrative Procedures Act, which dictates how rules should be presented to the public, providing adequate time for review and comment.
Becerra and 17 other attorneys general had argued in a joint letter sent earlier to EPA that the proposed rule was being rushed. They requested more time to review the regulations and their associated analyses, along with EPA setting time aside for more public hearings.
Second on the legal list of complaints, they will argue on Friday that the administration’s rules “contravene their mandate from Congress,” violating the Clean Air Act, which directs EPA to reduce air pollution, and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which directs the agencies to enact standards to improve fuel economy.
Third on the list is the argument that the technical analysis the administration uses is “arbitrary and capricious.”
The Democrats’ fourth complaint regards the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s environmental review of the rules.
“We are going to make very clear that NHTSA’s environmental impact statement violates the National Environmental Policy Act, and is also arbitrary and capricious,” Becerra said.
The fifth complaint is their legal opposition to the administration’s revoking of the long-standing Clean Air Act waiver for California to set its own, often times stricter, fuel economy and emission rules for vehicles. Under the law, states have a choice to either abide by the EPA rules, or opt into the California program.
Many of the states opposing the EPA proposal are from the so-called section 177 states that follow California. The states are required to sell more advanced technology and alternative fuel vehicles.
Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who joined Becerra on the call, said her state is fifth in the nation for advanced technology vehicle sales and is joining in opposing the administration’s proposed rule.
The SAFE proposal “seeks standards that are weaker,” she said. “Any American that drives or breathes should oppose the administration’s actions.”
Becerra argues that California is a leader for the nation on lowering emissions because of the waiver, and must continue to retain its waiver for it and other states under the law.
“We will make very clear that this is a fight that can’t afford to lose,” he said on the call.
“The stakes are high,” he continued. “And we have to get into this fight because it’s not just an issue of climate change, it’s about the health of our families and the future that we leave for our kids.”
Joining California and Illinois will be attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
