Calif.-Led Coalition Intervenes in EPA Lawsuit

Led by California, 18 states are wading into a lawsuit in support of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s waiver for state-level emission controls. 

The motion to intervene, which was filed June 28 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, backs the EPA in a June 5 lawsuit.  

The suit was filed by 19 states opposed to the EPA’s waiver, which allows the Golden State to impose stricter emission standards on heavy-duty vehicles than federal law allows. Under California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule, all trucks and heavy-duty engines sold in the state must be emission-free by 2045. 

“We did not back down against radical efforts to undo our zero emission vehicle rules and we won’t back down from defending these commonsense, life-saving clean truck policies,” stated California Gov. Gavin Newsom in an accompanying release. 

Besides California, the other involved states are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.