Sara Kelly

November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving is a notoriously quiet week for government agencies. California, however, has not stayed quiet in the effort to gain approval for its tough new vehicle emissions standards. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, lawyers representing the State of California were busy with two lawsuits aimed at expediting implementation of the State's 2002 greenhouse gas legislation.

Under the Clean Air Act, California is the only state in the nation that can adopt air quality standards that are stricter than the federal rules. In order for California to implement stricter standards, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must grant the state a waiver. Once the waiver is granted, other states are permitted to adopt the California rules in lieu of the federal standards. In 2002, California passed AB 1493, which requires a thirty-percent reduction in tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks by 2016, beginning with model year 2009. California is currently waiting for the necessary waiver from the EPA. Eleven other states already have adopted the California rules and five more are in the adoption process.

On Thursday, November 8th, California, joined by fourteen other states, filed suit against the EPA in Federal District Court in Washington D.C., alleging that the agency has unreasonably delayed its decision on the California law. California argues that the EPA does not need more time to review the facts before ruling on the waiver. As evidence, California cites a 251 page report submitted in 2005 by the California Air Resources Board, the April 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA that classified greenhouse gases as pollutants, and the September 2007 Vermont District Court decision that rejected a challenge from the automobile industry in favor of state regulations. California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. demanded an answer from the EPA at a press conference with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the State Capital. "Despite the mounting dangers of global warming, the EPA has delayed and ignored California's right to impose stricter environmental standards. . . . The Supreme Court has ruled in our favor. What is the EPA waiting for?"

On Monday, November 19th, lawyers representing the State of California appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Anthony W. Ishii in Fresno to argue a motion seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the automobile industry in 2004. The lawsuit is one of several by the auto industry aimed at overturning the proposed emissions standards and includes as plaintiffs more than a dozen California car dealers, DaimlerChrysler Corp., General Motors, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and others. Attorneys for the automobile industry argue that California's strict emissions standards could wreck the domestic auto market and lead to job losses at auto manufacturing plants and car dealerships nationwide. Attorney General Brown counters that California is the leading state in the country dealing with climate change. "The auto companies are waging an all-out assault on the [S]tate of California and its greenhouse gas tailpipe restrictions, so it's crucial that we win."

Sources:

Automakers Ask Judge to Toss Emissions Standards, E & E News, Greenwire, Nov. 20, 2007, http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2007/11/20/13/#13.

California Sues EPA for Stonewalling Landmark Global Warming Law, California Chronicle, Nov. 8, 2007, available at http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=42520.

Arnold's Imperialism, Wall St. J., Nov. 12, 2007, at A16.

Garance Burke, Automakers Challenge California's Tailpipe Emissions Standards, San Francisco Chronicle Online, Nov. 19, 2007.

Chris Collins, Judge to Rule in Emissions Case: Fresno Hearing Considers State's Auto Standards, Fresno Bee, Nov. 20, 2007.

Felicity Barringer, U.S. Court Backs States' Measurers to Cut Emissions, N.Y. Times, Sept. 13, 2007.