Transportation - Climate Extra

8th Circuit Rejects Gradual DOE Phaseout Of EV Fuel Economy Incentive

A federal court has rejected a Department of Energy (DOE) rule that gradually phased out an incentive for electric vehicles (EVs) under fuel economy rules, delivering a victory to Republican states and liquid fuels groups that opposed Biden officials’ efforts to avoid quickly ending the incentive as the department originally proposed. However, the court decision’s on-the-ground effects remain uncertain, given aggressive moves by the Trump administration and Congress to scale back the bite of both the Department of Transportation’s (DOT)...

EPA Reg Agenda Sets Ambitious Goals For Rolling Back Climate Rules

The latest federal regulatory agenda is underscoring EPA’s plans to quickly adopt rules that scale back or entirely scuttle numerous climate programs, including the agency’s greenhouse gas endangerment finding and related vehicle GHG rules that the new agenda suggests could be finalized well before the end of the year. The Spring agenda, delayed for months as the Trump administration developed its priorities, sets a goal of finalizing the agency’s high-profile GHG endangerment finding repeal and vehicle GHG rules by September...

Automakers Seek ‘Interim’ Rule Easing Near-Term Vehicle GHG Limits

Automakers are pressing EPA for an “interim final rule” or similar quick mechanism to roll back near-term greenhouse gas limits for light- and medium-duty vehicles, seeking “near-term certainty” while the agency pursues its plan to undo its landmark climate risk finding and all vehicle GHG programs. While such an “interim” move would be sure to spark legal challenges, the industry suggestion comes as the Trump administration has pursued similar near-term relief for other sectors, including oil and gas producers. The...

EPA Warned Of Small Business Act Violation In GHG Vehicle Rule Repeal

A progressive policy advocate is arguing that EPA likely violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) by certifying that its proposal to revoke all of the agency’s greenhouse gas vehicle rules, which it is advancing as part of a repeal of EPA’s GHG endangerment finding, would not have major effects on small entities. EPA’s claim “fundamentally misunderstands what is required of the agency under the law,” argued Center for Progressive Reform Policy Director James Goodwin during an Aug. 22 public hearing...

Environmentalists Seek More Low-Carbon Funds In Upcoming Transport Bill

Environmental groups are offering recommendations for Congress’ upcoming transportation reauthorization bill, arguing lawmakers should increase funding for programs that encourage vehicle electrification, public transit and low-carbon building materials development. However, it is unclear how much environmentalists will succeed in their push, given the Trump administration and congressional Republicans’ strong opposition to climate policies and electric vehicle (EV) efforts in particular. In recent comments on a Transportation Department (DOT) request for information (RFI) seeking to inform the legislative effort, environmental groups...

California Agency Denies Petition To Find CARB-Truck ‘Partnership’ Illegal

California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) is denying without explanation a trucking group’s petition claiming the state air board’s 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) with truck makers is an illegal regulation, though the agreement remains under attack by manufacturers themselves and the Trump administration. “OAL declines to accept your petition,” states the office’s Aug. 18 response to the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA). “Our decision in no way reflects on the merits of the underlying issue presented by your petition...

States Still Fear Delays In EV Charger Grants Despite New DOT Guide

States and environmentalists are expressing concern about continued delays in receiving infrastructure law funds for deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, despite the Transportation Department’s (DOT) new guidance for the program it says will help resolve a months-long delay in the grants. While Trump officials argue the Aug. 11 interim final guidance from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will streamline project approvals, states say DOT unlawfully revoked prior EV charging deployment plans and that they should not have to write...

Truck Makers’ Commitment To FTC Further Thwarts CARB Emission Rules

Four major truck manufacturers are resolving an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by disavowing their participation in the 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and committing to avoid joining future “anticompetitive” agreements with California or other states. The resolution of the FTC investigation further undermines CARB’s efforts to implement truck emissions rules that are more stringent than the federal government’s, including requirements that manufacturers sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission models. It...

Joining Litigation, EV Group Cites Harm From Fuel Economy Rule Pause

A group representing companies related to the electric vehicle (EV) sector is joining litigation over the Trump administration’s “interpretive rule” that represents a first step toward rolling back Biden-era fuel economy standards, claiming officials’ decision to pause implementation of the rules is harming manufacturers that meet the limits. According to an Aug. 6 suit over the rule , the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is not issuing “compliance notifications” to auto manufacturers...

After Waiver Repeals, GOP, Industry Attack CARB’s Clean Vehicle Rules

Republican lawmakers and industry groups are launching new attacks on California’s efforts to implement tough emissions rules for cars and trucks in the wake of Congress’ repeal of EPA’s Biden-era waivers of federal preemption that allowed the state to implement tougher requirements. In parallel Aug. 11 actions, truck makers filed a new lawsuit seeking to void a 2023 deal they made to meet stricter California air rules, while House Republicans sent a letter questioning the state’s air board about whether...

Officials Weigh Claim CARB Clean Truck Partnership Is Illegal Regulation

A trucking-sector group is expecting California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to respond in the coming weeks to its petition claiming the state air board’s 2023 Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) pact with heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers is an illegal “underground regulation,” part of a broader industry campaign against the pact. “Although the CTP stands in for” California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations, “CARB did not comply with” the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) “in introducing this alternative regulatory regime. Thus, the CTP...

CARB Amends Truck ZEV Rule Amid Dispute Over EPA Preemption Waiver

The California air board is amending its Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) regulation requiring manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission models in the coming years, amid opposition by industry groups that argue the state should drop the program because the federal government recently repealed a preemption waiver for the rule. The opposition appears to call into question whether the board’s landmark 2023 deal with truck makers -- named the Clean Truck Partnership -- is still in effect. The deal...

Officials, Stakeholders Spar Over EPA Plan To Repeal GHG Risk Finding

Various state and industry officials, environmentalists and other stakeholders are already sparring over the Trump EPA’s long-expected proposal to rescind the agency’s 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding as well as associated GHG rules for all types of vehicles. The July 29 proposed rule says the agency now believes section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act “does not authorize the EPA to prescribe emission standards to address global climate change concerns and, on that basis, propose to rescind the administrator’s prior...

IPI Attacks EPA’s Expected Justifications To Scuttle GHG Risk Finding

A progressive think tank is attacking EPA’s expected arguments in its forthcoming proposal to scrap the 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding that vehicle GHGs do not sufficiently contribute to public endangerment and that the agency should have factored costs into the finding. In just-released analyses, the New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity (IPI) asserts EPA’s expected claims clash with other prior risk findings and rules targeting much smaller sources of air pollution. IPI’s pushback comes amid expectations that the...

CARB ‘Session’ To Boost ZEV Trucks Draws Attacks, Calls For Rule Relief

At the first of several California air board “public sessions” to inform measures to boost the adoption of zero-emission cars, trucks and buses following the federal government’s repeal of preemption waivers to implement stricter vehicle emission rules, regulators faced strong criticism and calls for more regulatory relief. “We didn’t even know how we were ever going to meet those mandates to begin with,” said Chris Shimoda, a lobbyist for the trucking industry, during a July 21 California Air Resources Board...

White House Faces Split Views On Looming Plan To Scrap EPA’s GHG Finding

White House officials are facing divergent stakeholder views as EPA appears poised to release its proposal to rescind its landmark 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding, with Indiana officials seeking agency legal interpretations that restrict analysis to “direct” health effects from GHGs while some industry groups are floating an alternative plan to relax GHG rules. Sources tell Inside EPA ’s Climate Extra that the agency is poised to release its proposal -- coupled with a plan to scrap vehicle GHG...

California Cites High-Speed Rail’s GHG Benefits In Suit To Recoup DOT Funds

California’s lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from terminating more than $4 billion in Department of Transportation (DOT) grant funding for the state’s high-speed rail project is citing the long-delayed project’s greenhouse gas-reduction and climate benefits. The embattled project -- which originally promised an electrified, high-speed railway between San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2020 but has been significantly pared back since -- remains “a crucial part of California’s long-term strategic planning, not only to address critical transportation needs,...

CARB Weighs Changes To ACT Rule, Drawing Industry Fire After CRA Repeal

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is weighing proposed changes to its Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) program that would boost flexibility, though the move is drawing fire from gas station owners after the enactment of a legally contested Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution scrapping EPA’s preemption waiver for the program. A CARB notice says proposed amendments to the ACT regulation will be discussed at the board’s July 24 public meeting. The proposal is in line with California’s two-pronged strategy for...

D.C. Circuit Seeks EPA Stance In Auto Case As 1st Circuit Hears NHTSA Suits

The D.C. Circuit is directing EPA to weigh in on whether the court should pause a longstanding dispute over the agency’s model year 2023-2026 light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas limits, following fuels groups’ calls for an abeyance given multiple signs that the Trump EPA will revisit the standards. A July 2 order in State of Texas, et al. v. EPA, et al. , seeks a response within 10 days. It comes as a multidistrict panel has consolidated separate litigation over fuel...

DOT Declines To Appeal EV Charger Grants Order, But Readies Guidance

The Department of Transportation (DOT) is declining to appeal a preliminary injunction unfreezing several states’ infrastructure law grants to build electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, even as Trump officials draw closer to issuing a draft guidance expected to outline updated requirements for new state plans to implement the program. The government’s move in State of Washington, et al. v. DOT -- a multi-state challenge to DOT’s halt of unobligated National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program funds and the department’s...

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