California Phaseout of Fossil Fuel Cars Faces Congress Test

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California Phaseout of Fossil Fuel Cars Faces Congress Test

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration is trying to cancel waivers it issued under the Biden government for three regulations in California that aim to curb transport emissions. “[T]he EPA will be transmitting to Congress the Biden Administration’s rules granting waivers that allowed California to preempt federal car and truck standards promulgated […]

“[T]he EPA will be transmitting to Congress the Biden Administration’s rules granting waivers that allowed California to preempt federal car and truck standards promulgated by EPA and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration”, the EPA said in an online statement.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said, “The Biden Administration failed to send rules on California’s waivers to Congress, preventing Members of Congress from deciding on extremely consequential actions that have massive impacts and costs across the entire United States”.

During previous president Joe Biden’s last days in office, the EPA granted waivers for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) and Heavy-Duty Omnibus.

“Under the Clean Air Act, California is afforded the ability to adopt emissions requirements independent from EPA’s regulations to meet its significant air quality challenges”, the EPA said December 18, 2024.

ACCII sets emission standards and raises sales of zero-emission vehicles for model years 2026-35 so that all new light-duty passenger cars, pick-up trucks and SUVs sold in California are zero-emission by 2035. ACCII builds on ACCI, adopted 2012 for model years 2015-25.

“By 2035, all those vehicles must be zero-emission, which includes the option to sell plug-in hybrid vehicles”, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said separately at the time.

“The regulation does not ban fossil-fueled cars and pickup trucks; residents can drive existing internal combustion vehicles as long as they want.

“The regulation will save drivers of clean vehicles $7,500 in maintenance and fuel costs over the first 10 years of use. It also will cut harmful pollutants by over 25 percent, save lives and save Californians $13 billion in health costs related to respiratory illnesses”.

Under the Heavy-Duty Omnibus, manufacturers must curb emissions of nitrogen oxides, or smog-forming emissions, by 90 percent. The omnibus requires an overhaul of engine testing procedures and further extends engine warranties, CARB said.

“The expected public health benefits from reduced illnesses and other improvements are $23 billion”, it said of the omnibus.

CARB said, “The [EPA] decision is consistent with more than 50 years of precedent that allows California to implement innovative solutions to address its persistent air quality challenges, reflecting the cooperative federalism built into the Clean Air Act and the U.S. Constitution which preserves the rights of states to protect their own public health and welfare”.

The EPA said it had taken into account comments from different stakeholders including the industry. “EPA’s review found that opponents of the waivers did not meet their burden to show how either program is inconsistent with the Clean Air Act”, the federal agency said.

The third regulation whose waiver is being challenged before Congress, called Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT), raises the share of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles and near-zero emission vehicles in sales.

Eleven other states plus Washington DC have adopted California’s ACCII. Nine other states have adopted the omnibus. Ten other states have adopted ACT, according to data on CARB’s website.

Responding to EPA’s move to send the waivers for review before Congress, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president and chief executive Chet Thompson said in a statement, “Congress must stand up for consumers, the U.S. economy and national security and use its Congressional Review Act authority to overturn EPA’s power-grabbing attempt to let California tell the rest of the country what we can and can’t drive”.

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