California to Sue Feds After Senate Blocks Its Clean Vehicle Rules

Updated 3:15 p.m. Thursday

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they will sue the federal government after Congress moved to revoke its electric vehicle mandate and two other clean air act rules Thursday. 

The move, led by Senate Republicans, attempted  to block California from regulating the pollution that comes from cars, trucks and buses, and roll back the state’s long-standing authority to set higher air quality standards than the nation. 

“Our lawsuit will be about ensuring California can enforce its state laws,” said Bonta at a press event, adding that through the years, the allowances granted by the Environmental Protection Agency, called waivers, have lowered harmful emissions and improved public health.  

“That’s better for our people, it’s better for our planet. This attack on these waivers will put more Californians’ lives at risk, undermine the clean vehicle industry, and stifle innovation and job creation, including in the electric vehicle sector,” he said. 

California’s rules would ban the sale of new gas cars in the state starting in 2035, reduce pollution from heavy duty trucks and buses and require truck makers to start selling more electric vehicles. 

Newsom said the decision to overturn the state’s waivers will benefit other countries who are pursuing a clean energy economy. 

“China is celebrating. This was a day that marks a moment of acceleration and their capacity to dominate in the next big global industry,” he said, referring to the electric vehicle market. 

“We have real-world evidence that these rules are improving public health,” said Dr. John Balmes, a longtime member of the California Air Resources Board. Balmes pointed to studies showing reductions in asthma-related emergency room visits in zip codes with higher infiltration of electric vehicles, and reductions in pollutants as use of zero-emission vehicles rose. 

“These studies and others show that our clean car and truck rules bring necessary co-benefits, reduced asthma attacks in children and younger adults, and reduced deaths in older adults, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” Balmes said.

The majority of California’s planet-warming emissions come from transportation, and the same is true nationwide. 

California has regulated its own vehicle pollution since the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. Due to the state’s historically horrendous air pollution, the federal government granted California the authority to set its own emissions standards, as long as they were stricter than federal rules. Those rules would then require approval from the EPA through waivers for final approval.

Republicans sidestepped the filibuster by using a little-known tool called the Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers. Both the Senate parliamentarian, essentially the chamber’s referee, and the Government Accountability Office, an independent agency overseeing the government, said using this procedure to rule on California’s rules was not allowed.

Democrats like California’s Sen. Adam Schiff objected, calling the move a “nuclear option,” and saying that going down this road was a slippery slope.

 “Because what we have at stake is also a state’s ability, it’s right to make its own laws,” Schiff said. “And to protect its own citizens without having this body overturn that right.” 

Environmentalists and scientists were defiant upon hearing the news, which some said did not come as a surprise. 

“While this is a big setback, we’re not out for the count,” said Adrian Martinez, an attorney with EarthJustice. “We still have many options to clean up this pollution and we need to pursue them immediately at the state and local level.” 

Martinez said the state could use its authority under the California Air Resources Board to write new rules for cars and trucks. 

Brian Maas of the California New Car Dealers Association, which represents franchise dealerships of new cars and trucks across the state, welcomed the opportunity to “recalibrate the state’s approach.”

“California needs a durable, market-aligned electric vehicle policy that reflects consumer demand, infrastructure availability, and affordability,” he said.