The Environmental Protection Agency has moved to block a California regulation aimed at reducing emissions from diesel trucks, arguing that it serves as a backdoor emission rule that would be imposed on the entire nation.
The EPA said on Monday that it is proposing to disapprove California’s Heavy-Duty (HD) Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Requirements, also known as the Clean Truck Check, which requires periodic vehicle emission testing and monitoring to identify trucks in need of emissions-related repairs.
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The agency argued that the state’s requirement conflicts with federal law, as it would apply to nearly all diesel and alternative fuel heavy-duty vehicles over 14,000 pounds that operate on California public roads and highways, even if they are not registered in the state.
“California was not, and has never been, duly elected by the American people to run our great country,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a press release.
“The state’s power grab knows no bounds. EPA will not allow California to violate federal law, and we will not sit idly by while, in the name of climate change, they raise the cost of living on all Americans who rely on truck drivers and the products they deliver across the country,” Zeldin said.
The proposal would be open for public comments 30 days after it is posted on the Federal Register.
The requirement is part of several state regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB), which leads the initiative, said on its website that “When fully implemented, the regulation is projected to cut statewide [nitrogen dioxide] emissions by over 81 tons per day and PM emissions by 0.7 tons per day in 2037. Together, these emissions reductions will result in over 7,500 avoided premature deaths.”
EPA’s move to roll back the requirement is part of a broader effort to repeal emission standards set by California and the previous administration.
The Department of Justice earlier this month filed a lawsuit against CARB regarding its Clean Truck Partnership, which is an agreement among the state and truck manufacturers to transition toward zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and technology.
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The department said that President Donald Trump signed into law the Congressional Review Act, which invalidated the EPA’s preemption waivers for CARB’s heavy-duty truck regulations.
In June, Trump signed a CRA to repeal California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which would have required manufacturers to increasingly sell a certain number of zero-emission trucks. The president also signed a measure to overturn a California rule that sets stringent standards to reduce nitrogen oxides from heavy-duty vehicles.
Trump also signed into law a CRA that overturned California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which sets stricter emission standards than the federal government to help accelerate the transition toward EVs.
Biden’s EPA last year granted a waiver to California to allow it to set these standards under the Clean Air Act. Other states have adopted California’s emission standards, which the Trump administration has argued set a nationwide EV mandate that will be costly for automakers and consumers.
The CRA is a special legislative tool that allows lawmakers to bypass a filibuster and vote in a simple majority in both chambers to eliminate a federal regulation.
GOP lawmakers have utilized this legislative tool to overturn the Biden administration’s energy and climate regulations that do not align with the Trump administration’s agenda, particularly regarding vehicle emissions and state waivers issued to California.