The Trump administration is set to take on California again - this time it'll be over the state's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and mandate for electric car sales in what could the biggest proposed rollbacks of Obama-era regulations, Bloomberg News reported Monday.
According to three people familiar with the plan, the Trump administration's proposal takes on the Golden State's unique ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution rules, granted to it back in 2009.
The revamped rules would also put the brakes on a federal program designed to raise fuel efficiency standards in vehicles. Under federal law, automakers in the United States must achieve a 35-mile-per-gallon fleet average by 2020 and 50 mpg by 2025. The new proposal caps the federal fuel economy limits to 2020 levels.
Bloomberg reports the Environmental Protection Agency will also propose revoking the Clean Air Act waiver granted to California, which allows the state to regulate carbon emissions from vehicles and force car makers to sell more electric vehicles there.
A 1975 law granting the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration authority over fuel-efficiency standards is also expected to be cited by the administration in their effort to prevent California from regulating fuel efficiency standards.
In May, the nation's most populous state was joined by 16 other states (plus the District of Columbia) in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration's efforts to undo the Obama-era standards.
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