The Biden administration on Wednesday granted California and 11 other states permission to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, one of the most ambitious climate policies in the United States and beyond.

The widely expected move by the Environmental Protection Agency is one of the last steps that the administration has taken to enact major climate policies before the end of President Biden’s term next month.

President-elect Donald J. Trump is expected to revoke that program soon after taking office, part of his pledge to scrap Biden-era climate policies. “California has imposed the most ridiculous car regulations anywhere in the world, with mandates to move to all electric cars,” Mr. Trump has said. “I will terminate that.”

The state, in turn, is expected to fight any revocation, setting up a consequential legal battle with the new administration.

Under the 1970 Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency has for decades granted a waiver to California, which has historically struggled with smog, to enact tougher pollution limits than those set by the federal government. Federal law also allows other states under certain circumstances to adopt California’s standards as their own.

The waiver can be used to rein in toxic, smog-causing pollutants like soot, nitrogen dioxide and ozone that lead to asthma and lung disease. But California officials have also used the waiver to curb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, a chief cause of global warming. Gas-powered cars and other forms of transportation are the biggest source of carbon dioxide generated by the United States.