The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will review whether the oil industry has the standing to try to overturn a decision that allowed California to set its own limits on pollution emitted by automobiles.
The case filed by oil companies, other fuel producers and 17 other states argued that the federal government exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act when it granted California a waiver to set its own tougher auto emissions standards.
The Supreme Court agreed to whether the fuel companies that appealed a lower court ruling have the standing to sue. Oil and other fuel companies are not regulated under the California standards; only automakers are.
The justices rejected the fuel industry鈥檚 request to consider whether it was unlawful for the Biden administration to grant California the federal waiver.
鈥淐ongress did not give California special authority to regulate greenhouse gases, mandate electric vehicles or ban new gas car sales 鈥� all of which the state is attempting to do through its intentional misreading of statute,鈥� Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, said in a statement. The group was one of the parties seeking a Supreme Court decision. 鈥淲e look forward to our day in court.鈥�
Officials from the state Air Resources Board were not immediately available to comment.
Under enacted by Congress in 1967, California has the power to enforce its own tougher standards for vehicle emissions. Congress gave California this unique privilege because it regulated emissions before the law鈥檚 passage. Other states can adopt California鈥檚 stricter policies, but cannot set their own.
California鈥檚 unique ability to set its own course under the Clean Air Act has been the keystone for all of the state鈥檚 efforts to clean its air. It鈥檚 a major reason why the state has been able to markedly improve its air pollution over the past half century, though much of the state still has some of the nation鈥檚 worst smog and soot.
The case stems from a dispute from the prior Trump administration, which in 2019 revoked a waiver that the Obama administration granted for . The Biden administration reinstated the waiver in 2022, and oil companies and Republican-led states sued the Environmental Protection Agency.
The lower court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ruled in favor of the EPA. The oil industry, other fuel producers and 17 states to the Supreme Court .
Automakers, environmentalists and other states, including New York, intervened in the case on the behalf of the EPA and the state of California.
The regulation, known as California鈥檚 Advanced Clean Cars I, cut greenhouse gas emissions and smog-causing pollutants by increasing zero- and low-emission vehicle sales requirements for model years 2015 through 2025. The air board ramped up those rules in 2022
The case comes at a complicated time for the state鈥檚 efforts to combat climate change and air pollution. Each of California鈥檚 emission standards must be granted a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it can take effect.
The EPA has not yet approved waivers for , including its landmark zero-emission car rule. Others require cleaner trucks, locomotives, commercial ships and off-road diesel vehicles like tractors and construction equipment. The most controversial one .
President-elect Donald J. Trump鈥檚 EPA is expected to deny or try to revoke all of the waivers that California is seeking to enforce its clean air standards.
But Congress wrote about when EPA can reject them: The federal agency can only reject California mandates if they are 鈥渁rbitrary or capricious,鈥� if the state doesn鈥檛 need them to clean its severe air pollution, or if they are inconsistent with federal law because there is 鈥渋nadequate lead time鈥� for manufacturers to develop electric cars or other technologies at a reasonable cost.