A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from challenging California’s longstanding authority to set vehicle pollution standards stricter than federal requirements.
The legal dispute stems from a decision announced in June by EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, who said the agency had determined that four of California’s Clean Air Act preemption waivers were actually “rules” subject to congressional approval under the Congressional Review Act. For decades, the waivers have allowed the state to adopt its own vehicle emissions standards and attack its smog problem—with ripple effects across the country.
The EPA has granted California more than 100 waivers since the Clean Air Act was enacted more than 60 years ago, none of which had previously been considered as rules. Zeldin has argued that previous administrations erred by failing to submit the waivers for congressional review.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in late June challenging the reclassification of the waivers.
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the EPA reclassified two more preemption waivers, which set emissions standards for boats.
