Trump Overturns California Phaseout of Fossil Fuel Cars

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed into law congressional resolutions that overturn three California regulations for cleaner transport, including one that would phase out the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2035.

Last February the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was letting Congress review waivers it had issued under the Biden administration that allowed the state to preempt federal car and truck standards promulgated by the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

On Thursday Trump signed H.J. Res. 87, H.J. Res. 88 and H.J. Res. 89, annulling California’s Advanced Clean Trucks, Advanced Clean Cars II and Heavy-Duty Omnibus respectively.

Several states have adopted one or more of the regulations. On Thursday California was joined by 10 other states in suing to challenge the federal government’s use of the Congressional Review Act to cancel the waivers. The suit was filed before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by Rob Bonta and fellow attorneys-general from Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

“We will continue to fiercely defend ourselves from this lawless federal overreach”, Bonta said in an online statement.

On the other hand, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, named defendant in the suit along with Trump, said, “The Biden EPA rules granting California’s waivers allowed one coast to set national policy while imposing significant costs and limiting consumer choice for Americans in every state”.

“We are working to end the EV mandate because, in part, doing so will usher in a new era of prosperity for American auto workers, providing the economic liberty needed to restore this quintessential industry”.

During previous president Joe Biden’s last days in office, the EPA granted waivers for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) and Heavy-Duty Omnibus.

“Under the Clean Air Act, California is afforded the ability to adopt emissions requirements independent from EPA’s regulations to meet its significant air quality challenges”, the EPA said December 18, 2024.

ACCII sets emission standards and raises sales of zero-emission vehicles for model years 2026-35 so that all new light-duty passenger cars, pick-up trucks and SUVs sold in California are zero-emission by 2035. ACCII builds on ACCI, adopted 2012 for model years 2015-25.

“By 2035, all those vehicles must be zero-emission, which includes the option to sell plug-in hybrid vehicles”, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said separately at the time.

“The regulation does not ban fossil-fueled cars and pickup trucks; residents can drive existing internal combustion vehicles as long as they want.

“The regulation will save drivers of clean vehicles $7,500 in maintenance and fuel costs over the first 10 years of use. It also will cut harmful pollutants by over 25 percent, save lives and save Californians $13 billion in health costs related to respiratory illnesses”.

Under the Heavy-Duty Omnibus, manufacturers must curb emissions of nitrogen oxides, or smog-forming emissions, by 90 percent. The omnibus requires an overhaul of engine testing procedures and further extends engine warranties, CARB said.

“The expected public health benefits from reduced illnesses and other improvements are $23 billion”, it said of the omnibus.

CARB said, “The [EPA] decision is consistent with more than 50 years of precedent that allows California to implement innovative solutions to address its persistent air quality challenges, reflecting the cooperative federalism built into the Clean Air Act and the U.S. Constitution which preserves the rights of states to protect their own public health and welfare”.

The third regulation whose waiver was canceled, called Advanced Clean Trucks, raises the share of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles and near-zero emission vehicles in sales.

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