Clean Car Standards

January 2017

In January 2017, the EPA completed a mid-course review and confirmed the feasibility of staying on track and meeting the higher mileage requirements. California, which has special status under the Clean Air Act to receive waivers to impose more stringent standards, also participated in the mid-course review and endorsed the EPA’s conclusions.

March 2017

In March 2017, the Trump administration announced its intention to reopen the review and potentially revise downward the mileage standards that the automobile industry has already committed to achieve through 2025.

June 2017

In June 2017, a coalition of state attorneys general transmitted a letter to the EPA threatening legal action if the EPA attempts to weaken air pollution standards set for passenger cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2022-2025.

April 2018

In April 2018, the EPA provided notice that, in its view, the fuel efficiency standards for cars for model years 2022-2025 previously agreed to are no longer appropriate due to allegedly changed circumstances. Subsequently, the EPA and the DOT promised to initiate a rulemaking process to revise the standards downward. The day after EPA’s determination, 12 attorneys general were joined by mayors nationwide in releasing a declaration vowing to challenge the EPA’s determination that the mileage standards should be rolled back. Separately, the attorneys general of California, Rhode Island and Vermont announced commitments to fight the rollback of vehicle efficiency standards.

May 2018

Acting on the declaration, a coalition of 18 attorneys general filed a petition for review of the EPA’s determination in May 2018 with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The lawsuit, led by California Attorney General Becerra, is based on the EPA’s arbitrary and capricious decision to begin weakening the fuel efficiency standards for model years 2022-2025 in violation of its responsibility under the Clean Air Act.

February 2019

In February 2019, the coalition of 18 attorneys general filed their initial brief with the D.C. Circuit challenging the EPA’s April 2018 determination that the fuel efficiency standards for model years 2022-2025 are no longer appropriate. The states noted that EPA made its determination without providing the public the opportunity to comment on the “new” evidence that the fuel efficiency standards were not feasible. Additionally, EPA ignored evidence that the emission standards could be achieved at a lower cost than previously expected. The attorneys general requested that the D.C. Circuit reverse the April 2018 determination, which served as the basis for EPA and DOT’s August 2018 proposal to freeze fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels.

February 2019

That same month, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed an amicus brief in support of the coalition of 18 attorneys general challenging the April 2018 determination that the fuel efficiency standards should be reopened. The amicus noted that EPA has improperly withheld the technical analysis that served as the basis for the April 2018 determination. Additionally, there is not, despite EPA’s claims to the contrary, a significant record supporting the determination as evidenced by the largest vehicle manufacturer’s support for maintaining the fuel efficiency standards through 2025.

May 2019

In May 2019, after the EPA had filed its initial merits brief the previous month, the coalition of attorneys general filed their reply brief. The reply brief noted that EPA’s initial brief had not disputed the core component of the states’ legal argument — that the agency unlawfully ignored the substantial administrative record it had developed in the January 2017 mid-term review in certifying that the clean car standards are achievable. In particular, the attorneys general pointed out that EPA had misrepresented data on vehicle electrification and failed to consider or acknowledge its prior analysis on affordability and fuel prices.

October 2019

In October 2019, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the April 2018 determination is not a final agency action and thus the court could not hear the challenge to the determination. The court emphasized, however, that the EPA will be required to provide a reasoned explanation for and cannot ignore prior factual findings in its effort to weaken the existing fuel efficiency standards for vehicles.

August 2018

Initiating its rulemaking process, in August 2018, the EPA and the DOT released a proposed rule to freeze fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels, instead of maintaining annual increases in fuel efficiency through 2026. The proposal also would rescind California’s waiver to set its own standards for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

August 2018

On the same day the proposal was released, California Attorney General Becerra expressed the state’s willingness to use every legal tool at its disposal to challenge the proposal. Additionally, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in releasing a statement announcing their intention to challenge the proposed rule that will significantly increase carbon pollution, reduce air quality and cost drivers money on gas. The coalition included every attorney general from the jurisdictions that have adopted California’s more stringent fuel efficiency standards.

August 2018

Later in August 2018, a coalition of 18 attorneys general requested that the EPA and the DOT extend the comment deadline on the proposal from sixty to 120 days and hold additional public hearings for the proposal. The attorneys general noted that a 120-day comment period would be consistent with past practices for similarly important and complex proposed regulations and that an additional hearing in California specifically devoted to the EPA’s unprecedented proposal to withdraw California’s Clean Air Act waiver would be appropriate. In response, the EPA only provided the public three additional days to submit comments and denied the request for an additional hearing in California.

September 2018

In September 2018, California Attorney General Becerra testified at the public hearing in Fresno, California on the proposed revision of fuel efficiency standards. Attorney General Becerra opposed the proposed rollback of the fuel efficiency standards because the proposed rule violates federal law as the standards are far below the “maximum feasible level” based on technology available today and available between 2021 and 2026. Additionally, Attorney General Becerra noted that the EPA and the DOT have failed to offer sound reasons for rolling back the fuel efficiency standards. The testimony also expressed opposition to attempts to revoke California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act.

October 2018

In October 2018, a coalition of 21 attorneys general filed comments requesting that the EPA and the DOT withdraw the proposed fuel efficiency rule. The comments noted that freezing fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels violates the agencies’ responsibilities under the Clean Air Act to protect the public from air pollution. Additionally, the proposal violates the Administrative Procedure Act as the EPA and the DOT have ignored substantial evidence at their disposal that runs counter to their rollback objective and have failed to provide justifications for reversing course on fuel efficiency standards. California 12 expert reports in support of its comments.

December 2018

In December 2018, a coalition of twenty attorneys general sent a letter to EPA Administrator Wheeler, requesting that EPA withdraw the proposed fuel efficiency rule in light of the Fourth National Climate Assessment. The National Climate Assessment, released in November 2018 makes clear that action is needed now to reduce climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change. At a minimum, the letter urged EPA to reopen the comment period for the fuel efficiency rule to allow for public input on and adequate consideration of the Assessment’s findings. Ten days later the coalition submitted a copy of the National Climate Assessment to the rulemaking record for the proposed fuel efficiency rule and highlighted parts of the Assessment that support the coalition’s submitted comments on the proposed rule.

June 2019

In June 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of ten attorneys general in sending a letter thanking the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for holding a hearing on EPA’s and DOT’s proposal. The letter encouraged Congress to exercise its oversight authority over federal agencies, such as the EPA and DOT that have flouted Congress’s commands in the Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to reduce air pollution and improve fuel economy. The attorneys general concluded by noting that if the EPA and DOT finalize their proposal, the attorneys general stand ready to file suit to overturn the final rule and expect to prevail, but emphasized that they would prefer to be cooperatively working with the federal government to craft solutions to the climate change challenge.

July 2019

The following month, New York Attorney General James led a coalition of twelve attorneys general in submitting supplemental comments with the EPA and DOT on the proposed fuel efficiency rule. The attorneys general noted that the EPA and DOT violated an executive order in developing the proposed rule by failing to consult with state officials about the proposal that would preempt state policies in attempting to rescind California’s waiver to set its own fuel efficiency rules and the right of other states to adopt California’s standards. The comments indicated that documents that the EPA and DOT recently provided to New York in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request could not substantiate EPA’s and DOT’s claim in the proposed rule to have satisfied the requirement to consult with states. Consequently, the states asked the EPA and DOT to withdraw the proposed fuel efficiency rule and comply with the requirement to consult with states.

March 2020

In March 2020, the EPA and DOT, having previously issued a final rule to withdraw California’s waiver to set its own vehicle emissions standards (below), issued its final version of the so-called Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles rule. The final rule establishes greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards for vehicles for model years 2021 through 2026, requiring annual fuel efficiency improvements of 1.5 percent. The 1.5 percent improvement target is far below the five percent annual improvement previously required by the Clean Car Standards. The new standard is expected to generate an additional 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon emissions by 2040.

March 2020

Immediately after the final rule was released, attorneys general announced commitments to challenge the final Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles rule. The attorneys general of California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia released statements opposed to the final rule.

May 2020

In May 2020, a coalition of 24 attorneys general led by California Attorney General Becerra filed a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit challenging the administration’s final rule. After the change in administration, the Biden administration asked the court to place the lawsuit into abeyance, where it remains as of June 2021.

September 2019

In September 2019, the EPA and the DOT issued a final rule to withdraw California’s waiver to set its own vehicle emissions standards (above). The EPA and the DOT, ignoring the explicit authority in the Clean Air Act for California to set its own standards, claimed that the state’s vehicle standards are preempted under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Clean Air Act. The agencies separated out the waiver rule from the fuel efficiency rollback; they indicated their intention to finalize the fuel efficiency rule in the coming months. In addition to undermining California’s clean car rule, revocation of the California waiver also impacts the state car rules of thirteen other states and the District of Columbia, all of whom have voluntarily adopted California’s emission standards as their own standards under Section 177 of the Clean Air Act.

September 2019

Within one week of its issuance, state attorneys general filed suit opposing withdrawal of California’s waiver. More specifically, California Attorney General Becerra led a coalition of twenty-four attorneys general in filing a lawsuit in federal district court in the District of Columbia to prevent the waiver withdraw from going into effect. The lawsuit notes that the assertion that California’s standards are preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and the Clean Air Act contravenes the texts of those statutes and prior case law. It also is arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

October 2019

In October 2019, DOT filed a motion to dismiss the attorneys general’s lawsuit or to transfer the litigation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The motion contends that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction to hear the complaint from the attorneys general.

November 2019

In response, in November 2019, the state attorneys general filed a protective petition for review challenging the withdrawal of California’s waiver in the D.C. Circuit, in case the D.C. federal district court determines that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the September 2019 lawsuit from the attorneys general. The November petition for review preserves the ability of the coalition of twenty-four attorneys general to challenge the September 2019 final rule withdrawing the California waiver.

June 2020

In June 2020, the coalition of attorneys general filed their opening brief in the D.C. Circuit. The coalition noted that the EPA lacks authority under the Clean Air Act to withdraw California’s waiver and that the agency’s grounds for denying the waiver based on its determination that the regulated pollution is a global issue, rather than a local issue, is unlawful. The attorneys general pointed out that California has demonstrated a need for greenhouse gas and zero-emission-vehicle standards to address its long-standing challenges with local air quality and the severe threats it faces from climate change.

In addition, the coalition noted that the appeals court lacks jurisdiction to review DOT’s preemption rule under the Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy Conservation Act and that the matter should first be heard by the district court. If the appeals court were to conclude that it has jurisdiction, the court should vacate the preemption rule because it exceeds DOT’s authority.

September 2020

In September 2020, the EPA and DOT filed their opening brief in the D.C. Circuit litigation. The federal government claimed that the EPA and DOT rightly withdrew California’s waiver as California’s vehicle emission standards do not meaningfully reduce the overall U.S. contribution of greenhouse gas emissions to global emissions. The brief also asserted the D.C. Circuit could properly hear the case.

October 2020

In October 2020, the coalition of attorneys general filed their final reply brief with the D.C. Circuit. The brief noted that the EPA’s waiver withdrawal is unlawful under the Clean Air Act as EPA identified no authority under the statute for its action and that EPA’s global issue determination is also not supported by the statute. The attorneys general reiterated that should the D.C. Circuit find that it has jurisdiction to review DOT’s preemption rule, the court should vacate the preemption rule issued under the Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy Conservation Act. After the change in administrations, the lawsuit was placed into abeyance where it remains as of June 2021.

September 2018

Following the August 2018 release of the proposed rule to freeze fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) filed a FOIA request with EPA and DOT in September 2018. CARB requested that EPA and DOT release documents that the agencies relied on in justifying the August 2018 proposed rule because this critical information was not disclosed and contradicts previous analyses conducted by the agencies, threatening public health.

April 2019

In April 2019, Attorney General Becerra filed a suit in the District of Columbia federal district court to compel EPA and DOT to make available the requested information. The lawsuit noted that EPA had violated FOIA in failing to make timely determinations on the request and that DOT had violated FOIA in providing inadequate justifications for withholding the requested documents.

June 2020

The federal district court for the District of Columbia released a memorandum opinion in June 2020 holding that the EPA and DOT conducted a satisfactory search in response to the FOIA request and that the withheld information was protected under the deliberative process privilege.