A coalition of states led by California on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to preserve current vehicle emission standards for automakers.
The United States’ most populous state, as well as 16 other ones, sued the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an attempt to block the agency from revising fuel efficiency standards put in place under the Obama administration.
According to CNBC, the coalition of states is pushing for raising fuel efficiency and curbing greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s fleet of passenger vehicles. The states and the District of Columbia make up 43 percent of the U.S. automobile market.
Last month, the EPA said the standards for vehicles made between 2022 and 2025 were “not appropriate.” The standards were approved by Congress in 2012 and require automakers’ fleets to average about 10 gallons per mile better than the current 26 miles per gallon, Forbes says.
California has a federal waiver authorizing it to set tougher emission standards to reduce carbon emissions in the state. Due to the strictness of its standards, automakers often have to sell a higher mix of their most fuel-efficient models to comply.
“The states joining today’s lawsuit represent 140 million people who simply want cleaner and more efficient cars,” said Governor Brown in a statement. This is the ninth time California has sued the EPA.
At a press conference with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Brown attacked President Donald Trump for repealing rules “based on a two-year determination process.”
Becerra called the current standards “achievable, science-based and a boon for hard-working American families.”
“We’re not looking to pick a fight with the Trump Administration, but when the stakes are this high for our families’ health and our economic prosperity, we have a responsibility to do what is necessary for them,” he added.
Although no specific or more lenient standards have been proposed by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, reports indicate that the U.S. Department of Transportation has drafted proposals that would freeze the average miles per gallon standards from 2020 through 2026.
Reuters has reported that the DOT would effectively terminate California’s exemption that enables its stricter regulations on greenhouse gas and particulate emissions.
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