California AG Filed Lawsuit against EPA and NHTSA Over Withholding of Data on Clean Car Standards

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the agencies’ inadequate responses to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for critical information related to the administration’s proposal to roll back national Clean Car Standards. Noting the unprecedented decision to withhold their underlying analysis from the public prior to moving forward with a new rulemaking, regulators at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requested documents from both federal agencies concerning their analysis of “vehicle fleet composition, new car sales, vehicle safety, battery technology, and other information that NHTSA and EPA used in proposing to roll back vehicle emission and fuel economy standards.” In the state’s lawsuit, filed by AG Becerra on behalf of CARB, California alleged that the EPA failed to make timely determinations on CARB’s September 2018 FOIA request and that the NHTSA failed to adequately justify its decision to withhold the requested material.

• Documents: Complaint
• Document Type: Complaints
• States: California
• Agencies: Department of Transportation Environmental Protection Agency National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Issues: Clean Air & Climate Clean Air Act Clean Car Standards Climate Cross-Cutting & Administrative Energy & Energy Efficiency Energy Efficiency Fossil Fuels Freedom of Information Act Greenhouse Gas Emissions Public Health
• Era: Trump Administration
• Outcome: Loss
• Explanation of Outcome:The court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment and denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.
• Action Type: Litigation