Congress Revokes EPA Waivers for California’s Clean Truck, NOx Rules
President Trump is expected to sign Congressional resolutions to pull back the Environmental Protection Agency waiver for California emissions rules that were phasing out internal-combustion-powered cars and trucks and tightening diesel emissions limits in the meantime.
California, however, has vowed to fight. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state will file a lawsuit, saying the waiver revocations are a move that will “Make America Smoggy Again.”
Since 1970 when then-Governor Ronald Reagan requested the waiver authority, air quality has improved significantly even as the state’s population doubled and the number of vehicles on California’s roads tripled, said Calstart in a statement. President Nixon signed the law granting California this authority.
“In a massive handout to special interests, the Senate today took a radical action that creates enormous policy uncertainty for the entire transportation industry,” said John Boesel, president and CEO of Calstart, an industry organization focused on transportation decarbonization, in a statement.
“This move concedes the industries of the future to global competitors, will increase air pollution, accelerate global warming and result in significant job loss,” he said.
“This vote upends decades of policy that has successfully resulted in cleaner air and the growth of a robust clean transportation industry. It is a brazen, yet futile, attempt to bring the clean transportation industry to a sudden halt. Calstart will continue to partner with the states working to fill this gaping void left by today’s federal action.”
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