SCOTUS agrees to hear case on California’s unique emission standards
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The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that challenges whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can let California impose emission standards that are stricter than those enforced by the federal government.
The case is being brought by Ohio and 16 other Republican-led states who claim that by letting California set its own emissions standards, the federal government, or more specifically, the EPA, is allowing the state to operate as a “quasi-federal regulator” pertaining to global climate change.
In addition to the 17 attorneys general, the rule is also being challenged by fuel producers and sellers based on the argument that demand for their products are being hampered by California’s separate and stricter rules.
Under the Clean Air Act of 1967, the federal government set emissions standards that California later argued were not stringent enough because of the state’s smog problem. When California subsequently enacted stricter standards, auto manufacturers balked, claiming it was prohibitively expensive to deal with unique emissions standards for each state. The government offered a compromise, enabling states to either adhere to the federal standards or adopt their own emissions standards that were identical to those enforced in California. This was accomplished through a waiver system established by the EPA, which later became known as the “California Waiver.”
The California Waiver was withdrawn during the first Trump administration, challenged by the state, and left unresolved when Biden became president, at which time the EPA reinstated the waiver allowing California to enforce stricter tailpipe standards.
In addition to Ohio, the other states participating in the lawsuit include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
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