[ad_1]
The Trump administration plans Wednesday to revoke the California waiver to the issuing authorities of its own rules on exhaust gas emissions, according to those informed of these plans, further intensifying a fight that has put challenge the automotive sector.
The White House first proposed this revocation last year as part of an effort to revise the fuel economy requirements imposed on automakers in 2012 under the same conditions. Obama administration. California has long had the power to set its own rules for limiting air pollutants from cars, but the Trump administration believes that such requirements should be set by the federal government, not by a State.
The decision to cancel the waiver is still under review and could be delayed, according to an administration official.
Andrew Wheeler,
Head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Tuesday to a group of car dealerships that the administration would take action very soon, but he did not come up with a specific timetable.
"In the very near future, the Trump administration will begin to take the necessary steps to establish a set of national fuel economy standards," said Wheeler.
To cancel the waiver would allow the government to work to limit California's influence on the auto industry through its ability to set stricter emission standards than federal mandates. In July, four automakers …
Ford engine
Co.
,
Honda engine
Co.
,
Volkswagen
AG
and
BMW
AG
– signed an agreement with California to meet more stringent emissions requirements than those proposed by the Trump administration.
In response, the White House has ordered regulators to accelerate their efforts to remove the California waiver, according to those familiar with the plan, and to separate it from their broader efforts to lower the economy's rules. fuel.
This development is the latest in the bitter struggle between the administration and California, the country's most populous state, which has said it wants to defend its waiver in the courts. The clash should result in a long legal battle that the auto industry hoped to avoid.
For years, automakers had been pressuring the White House to relax the existing rules on fuel economy, which required them to steadily increase fuel consumption and reduce fuel emissions. greenhouse gases from their car fleet. The companies argued that rising consumer demand for large trucks and SUVs had made efficiency targets more difficult to achieve.
But when the administration proposed last summer to freeze the rules at current levels and revoke the California waiver, automakers were worried that the resulting legal difficulties would create more uncertainty.
California has already filed lawsuits to block the White House's efforts and has threatened further lawsuits.
"We will fight this latest attempt and defend our standards for clean cars," the government said.
Gavin Newsom
in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
The administration is working to ensure that its rule-making process survives a court challenge that could be brought before the US Supreme Court, a White House official said.
California will likely ask a judge to maintain the rules, which could force carmakers to comply with these regulations, waiting to know which standards eventually prevail, according to legal experts.
-Andrew Restuccia and Alex Leary contributed to this article.
Write to Ben Foldy at [email protected]
Copyright ะน 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
[ad_2]
Source link