California Sues USEPA Over Rollback of Tailpipe Emissions Standards

On May 1, 2018, the State of California along with 16 states and the District of Columbia filed a Petition for Review (http://bit.ly/2jkLZgr) of the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw the Obama Era tailpipe emissions standards for model years 2022-2025. The Petition seeks judicial review of the USEPA and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s decision that was published in the Federal Register on April 13, 2018 (83 Fed.Reg. 16077 (http://bit.ly/2FxFIqc)). In that Federal Register notice, the USEPA concluded “that the current standards are based on outdated information, and that more recent information suggests that the current standards may be too stringent.”

Although the State of California is leading the charge on this lawsuit, it should be noted that this Petition does not address California’s ability to seek a waiver of the EPA’s tailpipe standards (otherwise known as “CAFE” standards) under the Clean Air Act. This is a pre-emptive move to establish that the entire roll-back of the standards is arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law.