Earlier this year, Congress passed and President Trump signed into law Congressional Review Act (CRA) measures to undo two waivers that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted to California that would have allowed the state to move forward with its electric vehicle mandate.
NACS has asked a federal court in California to allow it to participate as a Defendant-Intervenor and is calling for the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board against the federal government. The state is challenging whether the federal government can use the CRA to end California’s clean vehicles program.
“Mandating one technology is worse for the environment and for the economy than incentivizing better emissions from all technologies” said NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor. “Congress was right to block California’s misguided regulations and the court should throw out the state’s lawsuit attempting to undo the law Congress passed.”
NACS applauded the enactment and signing of H.J. Res. 87 and H.J. Res. 88, which overturned California’s attempt to set standards that would have required 22% of new 2025 model year vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emission vehicles, a precursor to pending California rules that would have required 100% of new vehicles sold in the state to be zero emission and ban the sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles.
The court now has multiple groups asking to participate in the California litigation and will decide on who can participate, as well as the motions to dismiss the case, in the coming months.