The Biden administration is taking a first step toward allowing California to set greenhouse gas emissions limits for cars and SUVs stricter than federal regulations after former President Donald Trump revoked that authority.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is reconsidering the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw California’s authority. It is taking public comment on the proposed change in policy until July 6.
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“I am a firm believer in California’s long-standing statutory authority to lead. The 2019 decision to revoke the state’s waiver to enforce its greenhouse gas pollution standards for cars and trucks was legally dubious and an attack on the public’s health and wellbeing,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
California has had the special ability under the Clean Air Act to set its own tailpipe pollution limits since the law was written in the 1970s, so long as the EPA grants the state a waiver. More than a dozen states and Washington, D.C., have adopted California’s aggressive vehicle emission standards.
But the Trump administration argued previous administrations have been wrong to consistently grant subsequent waivers to California.
The Trump administration change to the waiver was proposed as part of a broader plan to roll back planned increases in fuel economy limits for passenger cars and light trucks.
The moves split the auto industry because of the prospect of a long legal battle that could lead to two different car markets in the United States.
Some automakers who backed the Trump administration, including GM, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler, switched sides to get in the Biden administration’s good graces.
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President Joe Biden has promised to ratchet up fuel economy standards and push increasing electric vehicle adoption as part of his aggressive climate change agenda.
