R.I. joins multistate appeal of EPA emissions ruling

PBN Staff

01/03/2008

THE CLEAN CARS standards barred by the EPA would require higher fuel efficiency and lower emissions than the federal energy law, Calif. officials say. That might encourage the use of hybrid and all-electric cars, like this Toyota Corolla conversion from Sun Run Cars. /

SAN FRANCISCO – California has filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, appealing the ruling last month that barred states from enforcing vehicle emissions rules that are stricter than the federal standard. It was joined in the suit by Rhode Island, Massachusetts and 13 other states that have adopted, or plan to adopt, the California “Clean Cars” carbon-emissions standards.
The Clean Cars standards would have required that vehicles cut carbon emissions faster and by greater amounts than the federal rules signed into law last month by President George W. Bush. For instance, they would require fleet fuel efficiency of 44 miles per gallon by 2020, rather than the 35 mpg of the federal rules, Calif. Air Resources Board chief Mary Nichols said in a conference call, according to Bloomberg News.
Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is granted the power to enact air pollution standards for automobiles that can be stricter than the federal standards; other states may then adopt either the California or the federal standards. The California standards take effect only after the EPA grants the state a waiver – something that, in the past, the agency had done routinely.
On Dec. 19, however, the EPA denied California’s request for such a waiver, preventing any state from implementing the state’s 2004 Clean Cars standards. (READ MORE)
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said at the time that California had failed to demonstrate a compelling need for emissions rules tougher than those in the new federal energy bill, saying that such a need is one of the requirements for a waiver because reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a national issue.
But Nichols noted yesterday that Congress and the EPA had never required California to show a “compelling need” before granting the state’s earlier waiver requests. And U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has asked the EPA’s inspector general to investigate Johnson’s decision, citing reports that he ignored recommendations by the agency’s legal and technical staff.
“The EPA’s action, in denying California’s request to implement its innovative emissions law, defies all logic and practicality,” R.I. Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said in announcing that Rhode Island was joining the multistate appeal. “After first dragging its feet in arriving at a decision, the EPA is now dragging us down in our efforts to step up with a real solution to reduce the pollution that’s causing global warming.”
The suit was filed in San Francisco in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Calif. Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a news conference yesterday. Parties to the appeal, besides California, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, include Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington state and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A similar suit was filed by the Sierra Club and four other environmental groups, according to Bloomberg News.
The EPA “will review any court proceedings when appropriate,” agency spokesman Jonathan Shradar said.

“The fight over this program is really turning into an epic battle,” Matt Auten of Environment Rhode Island told Providence Business News this afternoon. “It’s hard to believe that after five years, we’ve wound up back in court once again – this time fighting the Environmental Protection Agency, who you’d think would be an ally in promoting cleaner air and reducing global-warming pollution.”

PBN Branded Content