The Trump administration is fighting California air regulators’ attempt to reinstate older vehicle emission rules after Congress revoked its nation-leading electric vehicle sales mandates.
What happened: California regulators are planning to revert to their Obama-era emissions rules for cars and trucks, after Congress removed their authority in June to impose standards for model year 2026 and beyond.
But EPA argued in a statement Tuesday and a public comment letter Saturday that it has the authority to approve the scaled-back rules, too — and that officials aren’t inclined to.
“CARB’s proposal appears to be nothing more than scare tactics to coerce car companies into limiting consumer choice and selling unaffordable and impractical electric vehicles that Americans do not want to buy,” Aaron Szabo, EPA’s assistant administrator for air and radiation, said in a statement.
