Trump Administration to Revoke California’s Power to Set Stricter Auto Emissions Standards

by Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis (Washington Post) The Trump administration will revoke California’s right to set stricter air pollution for cars and light trucks on Wednesday, according to two senior administration officials, as part of a larger effort to weaken an Obama-era climate policy curbing greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s auto fleet.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department proposed taking away the waiver California received under the Obama administration to set tailpipe emissions for cars and light-duty trucks, as part of a rule that would freeze mileage standards for these vehicles at roughly 37 miles per gallon from 2020 to 2026.

But in July, California reached an agreement with four companies — Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW of North America — under which they pledged to produce fleets averaging nearly 50 mpg by model year 2026. That is one year later than the target set under the Obama administration.

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EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler made his intentions clear.

“We embrace federalism and the role of the states, but .... "

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Marlo Lewis, a senior fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, predicted in an interview that the move would make it easier for automakers to embrace the fuel efficiency rollback.

“That is the only thing that will remove the sword of Damocles over the automakers’ heads,” Lewis said. “The Trump administration really has to kick the bully off the playing field, and then the automakers will start talking more sensibly.”

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As it crafted landmark clean air legislation for the country, Congress granted California special status, saying the state could request a “waiver” to require stricter tailpipe standards if it provided a compelling reason such regulations were needed.

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Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed that right in the years since. And in 1977, lawmakers said other states could legally adopt California’s stricter car emissions standards.

Over time, emissions control strategies first adopted by California — catalytic converters, nitrous oxide regulations and “check engine” systems, to name a few — have become standard across the country.

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In late 2007, the George W. Bush administration denied the state a waiver for its tailpipe standards on the grounds that capping carbon dioxide emissions did not address a specific air pollution problem for California. READ MORE

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)

The Energy 202: Trump administration not so interested in states' rights when it comes to California (Washington Post)

CALIFORNIA VS. EPA GOES ANOTHER ROUND: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Excerpt from Washington Post: “This isn’t just about California,” Gay MacGregor, a former senior policy adviser at the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality who has been critical of the Trump administration, said in an e-mailed statement. “Apparently, the GOP is no longer the champion of states’ rights or clean air.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: CALIFORNIA VS. EPA GOES ANOTHER ROUND: Environmental advocates and state officials say EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler's threat to withhold California highway money over air quality compliance on Tuesday is a political attack, not a sincere effort to clean up the state's air, Pro's Alex Guillén reports. "It's obviously not sincere. It's obviously an effort to persecute California," said Bill Magavern, policy director for the California green group Coalition for Clean Air. EPA's threat comes a week after it revoked the state's waiver to enforce stricter auto emissions standards.

On Tuesday, a senior EPA official defended the agency's threat, arguing it's not targeting the state. But California regulators said EPA failed to approve the state's pollution plans and is upset by "paperwork issues of its own creation."
California tends to submit more SIPs than other states because its regulatory oversight is divided into dozens of air quality management districts. That has also strained EPA's ability to process SIPs, said Janet McCabe, a former EPA air chief, but she criticized the administration's response. "EPA is supposed to be helping the states work through these things. This seems like a pretty clearly political move," she said. READ MORE