The Supreme Court has granted a bid by industry groups to do battle against California’s authority to set stronger auto pollution standards than the federal government.
In a short order issued Friday, the justices agreed to decide whether fossil fuel interests and other trade organizations have standing to make a legal claim that California’s Clean Air Act waiver allows the state to set rules that reduce demand for their products.
The justices declined to consider a broader question concerning the legality of the waiver, which has been in place for decades, except for a period when EPA revoked it under then-President Donald Trump.
The challengers — which include the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the National Association of Convenience Stores — are fighting a lower court ruling in April that found the groups had failed to show how the judiciary could fix any harm they suffered as a result of California’s waiver.
The challengers then asked the Supreme Court to find that the waiver does not empower the state to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, impose electric vehicle mandates or limit consumer access to internal combustion engines.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who led a coalition of 17 Republican-led states in the challenge, has separately argued that California’s waiver violates states’ right to equal sovereignty. The court did not address the states’ petition in its Friday order.
EPA and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, have defended the waiver because of the state’s lengthy experience regulating air emissions and its unique pollution challenges.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the Supreme Court that the federal government has granted California 75 waivers since the 1960s because the state was already a leader in automotive emissions.
The Biden administration in 2022 reinstated California’s EPA waiver after it was revoked in 2019 under Trump.
