The White House advances to strip the California authority of vehicles: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration plans to revoke California's power to set its own greenhouse gas standards and declare states are barred from setting their own rules on vehicles, Thursday announced three people informed about it. .

President Donald Trump met with senior officials Thursday at the White House to discuss the government 's plan to split his August 2018 proposal to lower Obama' s standards until 2025 and later. to revoke California's waiver of the Clean Air Act to set state requirements for vehicles, said the people. .

The meeting included Andrew Wheeler, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Elaine Chao, Transportation Secretary, Larry Kudlow, Director of the National Economic Council, Jeffrey Rosen, Deputy Attorney General, and Russell Vought, Acting Director of Office and Management and Budget.

The White House and the agencies refused to comment.

On Tuesday, Wheeler told reporters that the administration had not made the final decision to split the rule into two parts.

After the meeting, sources said the administration planned to proceed in the coming weeks to the final settlement division and finalization of the pre-emption part before the publication of the new annual standards.

In August 2018, the EPA proposed to revoke a California waiver under the Clean Air Act in 2013 as part of the Trump administration's plan to lower the Obama era fuel economy standards. .

Under Trump, federal regulators supported the freeze emission requirements for new cars and trucks at the 2020 to 2026 levels. Administration officials said the final settlement would include a modest increase in requirements annual efficiency, but well below that set by the Obama administration in 2012.

The Obama era rules provided for an average fuel economy saving of 46.7 mpg in 2025, with average annual increases of about 5%, compared to 37 mpg in 2026 as part of the preferred option of the economy. Trump administration to freeze requirements.

Last week, Reuters and other news outlets reported that the US Department of Justice was investigating the decision by four automakers in July to enter into a voluntary agreement with California to adopt emission standards in the United States. in accordance with antitrust laws.

Ford Motor Co (F.N), BMW AG (BMWG.DE), Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Honda Motor Co (7267.T) reached an agreement to adopt standards lower than the rules of the Obama era, but superior to the proposal of the Trump administration of 2018.

California and other states were committed to applying stricter emissions standards at the time of Obama, after Trump had proposed to revert to federal rules. Motor companies are concerned that legal battles between state and federal governments create years of uncertainty.