The Trump administration is expected to announce plans Wednesday to eliminate California’s authority to set limits stricter than federal regulations for greenhouse gas emissions limits for passenger cars.
Administration officials will announce the move during an event at Environmental Protection Agency headquarters, according to multiple news reports. The withdrawal of California’s authority comes as the Trump administration has sought escalating retaliation against California and a handful of automakers that made a deal in July with the state to follow standards stronger than the agency’s proposal.
California has the special ability under the Clean Air Act to set its own tailpipe pollution limits, so long as the EPA grants the state a waiver. The Trump administration, however, has proposed to rescind that waiver and hamstring the Golden State’s ability to set greenhouse gas standards in the future.
Those plans came as part of a broader proposal to freeze fuel economy limits for passenger cars at 2020 levels, a move that has caused many automakers heartburn because they worry about a long legal battle that could lead to two different car markets in the U.S. Automakers have urged the administration and California to come back to the negotiating table, but any compromise appears unlikely at this point.
“[D]espite our best efforts, we could not reach a solution and decided to end discussions,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told the National Automobile Dealers Association during remarks Tuesday.
Wheeler added the EPA and the Transportation Department would be moving forward “very soon” with action “to bring clarity to the proper — and improper — scope and use of the Clean Air Act preemption waiver.”
The agencies’ move is all but certain to draw a legal fight from California and the 13 states that follow its standards. Together, those states make up more than a third of the U.S. auto market.
