The Trump administration on Tuesday said a California regulation applying heavy-duty emissions inspection and maintenance requirements to out-of-state trucks is unlawful and won’t count toward the state’s pollution reduction requirements.
The decision marks another clash in the energy and environmental battles between deep-blue California and the Trump administration, which worked with congressional Republicans last year to overturn several other waiver approvals the Biden administration issued for the state.
EPA did approve part of the rule requiring heavy-duty vehicles registered in the state to occasionally have their pollution control systems examined and repaired if needed, part of an effort to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions that plague air quality in much of the state. But inspections for trucks from other states or Mexico or Canada won’t count toward California’s progress in meeting air quality standards, EPA said.
“The Trump EPA will never back down from holding California accountable and stopping them from imposing unnecessary regulations on the entire nation,” Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.
