US judge bars EPA effort to send California vehicle emissions rules to Congress

A judge in Washington on Wednesday blocked the U.S. ​Environmental Protection Agency from sending landmark California vehicle emissions ‌rules ​for a potential repeal to the Republican-controlled Congress. The four waivers sent by the EPA to Congress for review granted California authority to enact its own emission standards for cars and trucks as well ‌as lawn-and-garden equipment. The Trump administration has mounted a multi-pronged effort to deny California the ability to require cleaner and more electric vehicles. The EPA and Congress have also enacted rules making it easier for automakers to sell more gas-powered cars and trucks, while making it more expensive to buy ‌EVs.

If the Trump administration is successful, it would bar California indefinitely from regulating tailpipe emissions and a future Democratic president would be ‌unable to easily reinstate its regulatory powers. In June, the EPA said the vehicle emissions waivers granted to California by the federal Clean Air Act under prior Democratic administrations should have been sent to lawmakers under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which would allow the U.S. Senate to repeal them by a simple majority rather than the 60 votes needed ⁠for most ​legislation.

The CRA allows only regulations ⁠to be repealed. California sued to block the action in federal court, saying it was illegal to send the waivers to the Senate under the CRA since they were ⁠waivers and not regulations. The state noted one waiver had been approved in 2009.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said in a preliminary injunction ruling that the ​EPA had urged the court to "engage in Orwellian doublethink" in seeking approval and arguing the agency is ignoring serious inconsistencies. "The EPA cannot ⁠say one thing to Congress while ignoring any consequence from reclassifying these waivers as rules," Howell said. "Such gamesmanship may seem like a clever policy move, but undermines honest compliance ⁠with ​the law."

She directed EPA "to take all necessary steps within the agency’s control to restore the status quo" before June. The EPA did not immediately comment.

Andy Su, a lawyer at the Environmental Defense Fund, praised the ruling, saying it will help "protect vital safeguards that 40 million Californians ⁠have long relied on to cut pollution, protect health and save money." Lawmakers had been preparing to vote on the waivers as soon as ⁠later this month.

Last year, Congress ⁠rescinded authority for California to outlaw gas-powered vehicles after 2035 after Toyota, General Motors and other automakers lobbied for relief from the state's emissions regulations. The action came after the EPA sent the waivers to Congress for ‌repeal. A separate legal ‌challenge from California on that action is pending.