Trump Administration Announces One National Program Rule on Federal Preemption of State Fuel Economy Standards

September 20, 2019

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(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) President Trump promised the American people that his Administration would address and correct the current fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards, and today (September 19, 2019), his Administration is taking steps to fulfill this promise.

Today, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took an initial step towards finalizing the proposed Safer, Affordable, Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule by issuing a final action entitled the “One National Program Rule,” which will enable the federal government to provide nationwide uniform fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for automobiles and light duty trucks.

A top priority for President Trump, when finalized, the proposed SAFE Vehicles Rule standards would establish attainable fuel economy and GHG vehicle emissions standards that will help ensure that more Americans have access to safer, more affordable, and cleaner vehicles that meet their families’ needs. The SAFE rule’s standards are projected to save the nation billions of dollars and strengthen the U.S. domestic manufacturing base by adding millions of new car sales. Most importantly, because newer cars are safer than ever before, the new standards are projected to save thousands of lives and prevent tens of thousands of Americans from being hospitalized by car crashes.

“Today’s action meets President Trump’s commitment to establish uniform fuel economy standards for vehicles across the United States, ensuring that no State has the authority to opt out of the Nation’s rules, and no State has the right to impose its policies on the rest of the country,” said Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

“Today, we are delivering on a critical element of President Trump’s commitment to address and fix the current fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “One national standard provides much-needed regulatory certainty for the automotive industry and sets the stage for the Trump Administration’s final SAFE rule that will save lives and promote economic growth by reducing the price of new vehicles to help more Americans purchase newer, cleaner, and safer cars and trucks.”

Today’s action finalizes critical parts of the SAFE Vehicles Rule that was first proposed on Aug. 2, 2018. This action brings much-needed certainty to consumers and industry by making it clear that federal law preempts state and local tailpipe greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards as well as zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates. Specifically, in this action, NHTSA is affirming that its statutory authority to set nationally applicable fuel economy standards under the express preemption provisions of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act dictates that such state and local programs are preempted. For its part, EPA is withdrawing the Clean Air Act preemption waiver it granted to the State of California in January 2013 as it relates to California’s GHG and ZEV programs. California’s ability to enforce its Low Emission Vehicle program and other clean air standards to address harmful smog-forming vehicle emissions is not affected by today’s action.

This action will help ensure that there will be one, and only one, set of national fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles. The agencies continue to work together to finalize the remaining portions of the SAFE Vehicles Rule, to address proposed revisions to the federal fuel economy and GHG vehicle emissions standards.

In today’s One National Program Rule, NHTSA and EPA have made the following determinations:

Pursuant to Congress’s mandate in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, only the federal government may set fuel economy standards, and state and local governments may not establish their own separate fuel economy standards. This includes state laws that substantially affect fuel economy standards (such as tailpipe GHG emissions standards and ZEV mandates).

In addition, EPA is withdrawing the 2013 Clean Air Act waiver that authorized California to pursue its own tailpipe greenhouse gas emission standard (fuel economy standard) and ZEV mandate. As a result, these two programs are also prohibited by the Clean Air Act.

Moving forward, California must continue to enforce its programs to address smog and other forms of traditional air pollution caused by motor vehicles. The state must redouble its efforts to address the worst air quality in the United States and finally achieve compliance with EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards, where for decades it has failed to address serious, severe, and extreme non-compliance status in several areas within the state.

Details can be found at NHTSA’s website and EPA’s website. READ MORE

Unprecedented move by EPA puts 13 states in 'strange place' (E&E News)

The Interaction of the Clean Air Act, California’s CAA Waiver, Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, Renewable Fuel Standards and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (Advanced Biofuels USA)

California Plans Aggressive Response To Trump Waiver Revocation (Clean Technica)

EPA'S NEW THREAT TO CALIFORNIA: (Politico's Morning Energy)

California Governor Takes Actions to Slash Vehicle Emissions (NGT News)

Feds Officially Move to Withdraw California’s Clean Air Act Waiver (NGT News)

Excerpt from E&E News: California's authority to set separate tailpipe pollution standards from the federal government goes back decades. The Obama administration extended the state's waiver to include greenhouse gas emissions from cars. EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yesterday said they were withdrawing the 2013 waiver, which has allowed California to impose its own clean car standards and a zero-emissions vehicle mandate (Greenwire, Sept. 19).

Lienke (Jack Lienke, regulatory policy director for New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity) said the rollback leaves a big problem for states that have chosen to follow California's footsteps. They are: Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Colorado was set to be the 14th state.

Even if states wanted to set their own stricter standards in the absence of California's waiver, they're not allowed to under federal law.

"The Clean Air Act, since 1977, has allowed other states to choose between federal standards and California standards. California is special," Lienke said. "Every other state is preempted from setting its own standard."

And experts say that stripping these states of the vehicle emissions model they've held for years could put multiple levels of their federal compliance at risk.

"Taking away their ability to use those standards really impairs their ability to meet federal air pollution requirements," said Julia Stein, project director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law.

Stein, though, said that gives the 13 states "strong footing to challenge the action" in court. She expects the other states to jump into the legal battle between California and the Trump administration over the waiver (Climatewire, Sept. 18).

California and its allies argue that EPA doesn't have the authority to take the unprecedented action of stripping away a Clean Air Act waiver.

"EPA has never before tried to revoke a waiver that has already been granted to California in the 50 years of this program, and nothing in the text of the Clean Air Act says it has the power to do this," Lienke said.

"If Congress wanted EPA's standards to be the final word for the entire nation, it wouldn't have built in this waiver provision for California, and it wouldn't have built in this piggyback provision for other states," he added.

...

"Here, California has relied on this waiver in setting its own plans to comply with federal air quality standards and meet its own kind of climate change goals, and also these 13 other states have relied."

All of this comes as the Trump administration is expected to freeze fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels through 2026. READ MORE

EPA'S NEW THREAT TO CALIFORNIA: The Trump administration is again escalating its confrontation with California, this time with a threat from EPA to go after the state's highway money. In a letter reported late Monday by McClatchy, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler says the state is behind the curve on submitting State Implementation Plans required by the Clean Air Act. He gives the California Air Resources Board until Oct. 10 to begin rescinding its SIPs that he said "have fundamental issues related to approvability" and begin submitting new ones.

The letter comes on the heels of the Trump administration's decision to rescind the state's waiver to enforce stricter regulations on automobile emissions. It would take two years from a formal EPA declaration to activate sanctions on federal highway money, an enforcement tool EPA has used rarely in the decades since the Clean Air Act was written. READ MORE