Biden administration is finalizing a waiver for California to set its own vehicle emissions standards
By Ella Nilsen, CNN
The Biden administration is finalizing a waiver to allow California to adopt its own, stricter vehicle emission standards, reversing yet another Trump-era rollback.
Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson Nick Conger confirmed the EPA’s final decision on the waiver is expected soon.
“We are working to finalize a decision on the California waiver and we expect to issue a decision in the near future,” Conger told CNN.
The New York Times first reported that the Biden administration would issue the waiver soon.
In 2019, the Trump administration rolled back California’s decades-old waiver that allowed it to set its own air pollution standards. President Joe Biden’s administration announced last year that it would start the process of putting the waiver back in place.
“States play an essential role in driving us toward a zero emissions transportation future,” said Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen in a statement. “By restoring California’s authority to set stronger clean car standards, the Biden administration is taking a critical step to protect public health and combat the climate crisis.”
California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling told CNN that the state won’t use its waiver to implement stronger standards for cars and light trucks and will instead use the Biden EPA’s recently adopted standards. The new federal fuel emissions, setting standards for those vehicles to 40 miles per gallon by the 2026 model year, were finalized in December.
Where the state will likely go farther than the federal government is in standards for heavy-duty trucks, Sperling said.
“California has decided it will go along with the federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for light-duty vehicles,” Sperling told CNN. “Where it’s diverging is these heavy-duty and light-duty zero-emission rules for cars and trucks.”
In 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order mandating that all vehicles sold in the state must be zero-emissions by 2035.
“This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change,” Newsom said in a news release at the time. “Californians shouldn’t have to worry if our cars are giving our kids asthma. Our cars shouldn’t make wildfires worse — and create more days filled with smoky air. Cars shouldn’t melt glaciers or raise sea levels threatening our cherished beaches and coastlines.”
Sperling said Newsom’s order includes new heavy-duty vehicles as well.
“The commitment is to zero-emission vehicles, all on-road vehicles,” Sperling told CNN.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
