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President Trump is set to abolish a decades-old rule on Wednesday to allow California to set tougher automotive pollution standards than those required by the federal government – putting the state and the US Environmental Protection Agency on the frontlines. way years of fighting in the courts.
The move, which has been underway for much of the last three years, aims to erase the authority that laid the foundation for California's environmental leadership role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. and improving the quality of the air. In revoking a special derogation on which the state has been supporting for years, the administration will assert that no state can implement more ambitious pollution controls than those adopted by the government. federal government.
The EPA has made no official comment on this plan, which should be announced while Trump is in California for a fundraising trip.
The administration's plan to revoke the waiver may trigger years of legal battles that could eventually lead to the US Supreme Court. This decision concerns not only California, but also 13 other states and the District of Columbia that comply with gas emission regulations that are committed to upholding their stricter rules.
It remains to be seen whether California will continue to serve as a laboratory for the stringent new rules on automotive pollution and whether its regulations requiring automakers to sell more zero – emission vehicles and plug – in hybrids will survive. The goal of the state is to have more 1 million of these cars on the road from here 2025.
The rule change should be finalized a few months after California rejected the White House by secretly negotiating an agreement with four major automakers. As part of the deal, automakers – Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW – have agreed to voluntarily increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions, largely ignoring the Trump administration's plan to reduce pollution standards. cars.
"Crazy!" Replied the president on Twitter. "The founders of Ford Motor Company and General Motors are" turning around "the weakness of the current leaders of the automotive sector," he wrote.
Other builders, such as General Motors, have expressed a wish to join the deal. Some of the president's critics have dismissed the administration's decision to remove California's unique power under the Clean Air Act to set its own exhaust emission standards.
"This is clearly a big slap in California," said Ann Carlson, professor of environmental law at UCLA. "One wonders if there is a political motivation rather than a legal one."
California has endorsed its role as the main opponent of Trump on environmental policies, repeatedly suing the government for its program to dismantle environmental and public health regulations of the Obama era. Federal judges have sided with California and environmental groups in air pollution cases, pesticides and royalties levied by the government by companies that extract oil. , gas and coal from public lands.
The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation to determine whether automakers have violated federal competition law by entering into an agreement with California to reduce emissions.
The EPA and the Department of Transportation also sent a letter to California regulators warning them of "legal consequences" if the state did not abandon its agreement with automakers. The letter reiterates the administration's longstanding belief that only these agencies have the power to set fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for cars.
California's special authority to regulate automobile pollution dates back to the 1960s, when Los Angeles was enveloped in a thick layer of smog that state officials viewed as a public health crisis. At the time of entry into force of the Clean Air Act of 1970, the state had already adopted its own exhaust emissions controls.
Fearing that each state will enact different regulations, Congress decided that the EPA would set automobile pollution standards for the country. But it created an exception for California, stating that the EPA would be required to grant the state an exemption from setting its own rules, provided they were at least as stringent as those of the federal government. Other states may choose to comply with California or federal regulations.
The planned revocation of the waiver is only one step in the administration's plans to weaken automobile pollution standards.
Current rules put in place under the Obama administration require automakers to build more and better vehicles so that by 2025, the country's cars and trucks will average more than 50 km / gallon .
The Trump EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have proposed lowering the standards by freezing mileage targets to about 37 miles per gallon for cars after 2020. While acknowledging that their plan would increase oil consumption and reduce fuel consumption. Greenhouse gas emissions, federal agencies have the standards put the drivers at risk by making unaffordable new cars safer.
However, the announcement of this reduction has been delayed several times and it is unclear whether the administration will be able to carry out its plan. Independent scientists have cracked down on agency data, high-ranking officials in charge of catering have left the administration, and automakers have rebelled against the president's plans, which they say would hurt their budgets.
Carlson stated that the revocation of the California waiver would not necessarily be prejudicial to the agreement between the state control authorities and the car manufacturers, as this agreement is voluntary.
In fact, the move could turn against the administration, she said.
If the California waiver was revoked and the current Obama era standards were still in place, car manufacturers could actually be forced to reduce their emission levels more than they had agreed to in the current of their pact with California.
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