The Biden administration will likely let California enact its aggressive rule to phase out gasoline-powered cars, setting up a conflict between the state and the incoming Trump administration.
California’s regulation, known as Advanced Clean Cars II, would require automakers to sell increasing percentages of electric vehicles, effectively banning the sale of new gas cars by 2035. The state is allowed under the Clean Air Act to set stronger auto pollution standards than the federal government — but each new regulation needs a waiver from EPA.
The Washington Post first reported Friday that EPA plans to issue that waiver as soon as this week, citing anonymous sources. EPA spokesperson Nick Conger told POLITICO’s E&E News that the agency is still reviewing the California regulation “to make sure its decisions are durable and grounded in the law.”
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to block the California regulation, and he’ll likely have backing from many automakers. But that move — along with Trump’s plans to curtail federal EV incentives — could reopen old divisions in the car industry.
