Eleven Groups File Petition Challenging EPA’s Clean Air Act Dismantlement
EPA Continues to Undermine States’ Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Standards
Today, Public Citizen and 10 other groups filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging revocation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Clean Air Act waiver that allows California and other states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.
The groups will argue in the case that the EPA’s action is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to relevant statutes, including the Clean Air Act and Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
The organizations filed a lawsuit on Sept. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a rule issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) deeming California’s greenhouse gas standards preempted by fuel efficiency standards issued by NHTSA under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. That lawsuit is pending.
“The EPA’s effort to revoke California’s ability to protect its citizens distorts the Clean Air Act and is a setback not only for California and other states that have followed its lead, but also for the national and worldwide fight against global climate change,” said Scott Nelson, a Public Citizen attorney. “This step backwards won’t survive scrutiny by the courts.”
View the filing here.