Twenty-Three AGs Filed Motion to Intervene Defending EPA’s Emissions Standards for Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicles

APRIL 22, 2024

California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of 23 attorneys general—along with four cities—in filing a motion to intervene defending the Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule for light- and medium-duty vehicles emissions standards for model years 2027-2032. The rule—which was challenged in a lawsuit by 25 AGs led by Kentucky and West Virginia—strengthens limits on greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and other air pollutants from vehicle tailpipes. The California-led coalition explained that vacating the rule would result in a significant increase of harmful emissions, which would be “long-lasting, not only because of the longevity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but also because of the longevity of higher-emitting vehicles sold under any weakened standards.” This would cause significant public health and climate harms for the movant-intervenor states.