Supreme Court will take up a challenge related to California's tough vehicle emissions standards

[December 14, 2024]  By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday said it would take up a business-backed appeal that could make it easier to challenge federal regulations, acting in a dispute related to California's nation-leading standards for vehicle emissions.

The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by fuel producers who object to a waiver granted to California in 2022 by the Environmental Protection Agency during Joe Biden's presidency. The waiver allows California to set more stringent emissions limits than the national standard.

The case won't be argued until the spring, when the Trump administration is certain to take a more industry-friendly approach to the issue. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal and repeal key parts of a landmark 2022 climate law.

The high court will not be reviewing the waiver itself, but instead will look at a preliminary issue, whether fuel producers have legal standing to challenge the EPA waiver.

The federal appeals court in Washington ruled that the companies lacked the right to sue because they produced no evidence that they would be affected by the waiver, which directly affects vehicle manufacturers.

Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and other major automakers already are meeting the California emission standards, the administration noted in court papers.

But the fuel producers told the high court that the appellate decision, if left in place, would “imperil future challenges to administrative action.”

They said they met the legal test for getting into court. As a “matter of common sense,” lawyers for the companies wrote, automakers would produce fewer electric vehicles and more gas-powered cars if the waiver were set aside, directly affecting how much fuel would be sold.

The EPA waiver was part of the Biden administration's efforts to reverse environmental rollbacks from Trump's first White House term and restore California's authority to set tighter emissions rules.

California has unique authority under the federal Clean Air Act to set tougher standards for cars sold in the nation's largest state, which has prompted automakers to produce more fuel-efficient passenger vehicles that emit less climate-damaging tailpipe exhaust.

In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the fuel producers' case as well as a related challenge from Ohio and other Republican-led states and fuel producers. The appeals court hears many challenges to federal regulations.

The Supreme Court did not act on the states' appeal.

The current fight has its roots in a 2019 decision by the Trump administration to rescind the state’s authority. Three years later, with Biden in office, the EPA restored the state’s authority.

The EPA could decide as soon as next week on a separate request by California for a waiver allowing it to enforce a rule aimed at banning sales of new gasoline-powered cars in the state by 2035. The rule is stricter than a federal rule adopted this year that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles.

If the new waiver is granted as expected, it could be short-lived. The incoming Trump administration is likely to move to revoke all California waivers, although that effort could face legal challenges.

An EPA spokesman said Friday that the agency “continues to review California’s waiver requests closely to make sure its decisions are durable and grounded in the law. We have no updates to share on timing.’’

Other environmental regulations have not fared well before the conservative-majority court in recent years. In 2022, the justices limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants with a landmark decision. In June, the court halted the agency’s air-pollution-fighting “good neighbor” rule.

Another ruling in June, overturning a decades-old decision known colloquially as Chevron, is also expected to make environmental regulations more difficult to set and keep, along with other federal agency actions.

But the justices also have recently kept in effect environmental regulations to limit planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants, while legal challenges play out.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this story.

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