President Trump announced Wednesday that his administration will eliminate California’s authority to set greenhouse gas emissions limits for passenger cars stricter than federal regulations.
Trump said the administration was pursuing the change “to produce far less expensive cars for the consumer, while at the same time making the cars substantially SAFER.”
…. advantage, and also due to the fact that older, highly polluting cars, will be replaced by new, extremely environmentally friendly cars. There will be very little difference in emissions between the California Standard and the new U.S. Standard, but the cars will be….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2019
Administration officials are expected to formally announce the move during an event at Environmental Protection Agency headquarters Thursday morning.
Former EPA officials and legal experts have called the Trump administration’s move unprecedented because the agency has never attempted to withdraw California’s authority.
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. Without a waiver, the Golden State won’t be able to set or enforce stricter greenhouse gas standards for cars in the future, which could be a critical blow to California’s ability to meet its long-term climate goals.
The state is already fighting back.
“There is no process for revoking a waiver because it’s never been done,” California Air Resources Board chairwoman Mary Nichols said in a tweet Wednesday.
There is no process for revoking a waiver because it’s never been done.
50 years & 100 waivers = cars & trucks that emit < 1% the amount of toxic air pollution they did when @AirResources began regulating. pic.twitter.com/qCmjewC8NM
— Mary Nichols (@MaryNicholsCA) September 18, 2019
The administration change to the waiver was proposed as part of a broader plan to freeze fuel economy limits for passenger cars at 2020 levels, a move that has worried many automakers because of the prospect of long legal battle that could lead to two different car markets in the United States. Automakers have urged the administration and California to come back to the negotiating table, but any compromise appears unlikely at this point.
In July, four automakers — Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW — broke with Trump to strike a deal with California regulators, agreeing to follow standards weaker than the Obama-era rules but much more stringent than what the Trump administration proposed.
That deal infuriated the White House. Earlier this month, in retaliation, the Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into those four automakers to explore whether they violated federal competition laws by teaming up with California.
Despite Trump’s announcement, some in the auto industry are already redoubling calls for the Trump administration and California to come back to the negotiating table.
“The revocation of California’s waiver will initiate lengthy litigation,” Laurie Holmes, senior vice president of environmental policy for the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, which represents auto parts suppliers, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “This will contribute to ongoing regulatory certainty, which could have damaging effects on industry’s ability to invest and plan for the future and impact industry’s ability to grow jobs.”
