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EPA Lets California Implement Its Own GHG Emissions Standards Again

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it has reinstated authority to California that allows the state to set its own greenhouse gas (GHG) standards and zero emission vehicle sales mandate.

The move concludes the EPA’s revision of the 2019 Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule Part One: One National Program Rule (SAFE-1), finding that the actions taken under the previous administration “were decided in error and are now entirely rescinded.”

The announcement also includes the withdrawal of the SAFE-1 interpretation of the Clean Air Act that forbids other states from adopting California’s stricter emissions standards. As such, states can choose to adopt the California standards, rather than the federal standards.

“Today we proudly reaffirm California’s longstanding authority to lead in addressing pollution from cars and trucks,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Our partnership with states to confront the climate crisis has never been more important. With today’s action, we reinstate an approach that for years has helped advance clean technologies and cut air pollution for people not just in California, but for the U.S. as a whole.”

Late last year, the Biden administration reversed a Trump-era rule that prohibited California from setting its own emissions regulations outside of the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

California is the most populous state in the U.S., and accounts for 12 percent of the U.S. auto market. Back in 2019, California sued the Trump administration after the president revoked a waiver that allowed the state to set its own emissions guidelines and fuel economy standards. At the time, General Motors backed the Trump administration in that lawsuit. Additionally, The Trump administration attempted to rollback Obama-era fuel economy standards, freezing the standards at 30 mpg, as opposed to the previous fleet-wide average of 36 mpg by 2025.

However, with the election of President Biden, GM withdrew its support for the Trump administration with regard to the California lawsuit.

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Jonathan is an automotive journalist based out of Southern California. He loves anything and everything on four wheels.

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Comments

  1. Gotta give the thugs good gas mileage so they can rob more people before they gotta fill the tank up.

    Reply
    1. Wage theft is no laughing matter.

      Reply
      1. You’re right robbing random people at gun point on the street is no laughing matter. At least they wear their masks while doing it.

        Reply
  2. I have lived in this state for over 43 years and this is just another form of virtue signaling and over reach by the politicians. This state goes after the common tax payer in the name of “The Environment” by raising taxes and having stiff punishments if our cars don’t pass smog. They are banning small engines in 2024 and all Semi Trucks that don’t have the DEF system are no longer allowed on the road in 2023, no matter how many miles is on the truck. Yet there is a major problem with garbage all over the streets in all the major cities and with the homeless defecating and shooting up drugs on the streets. There is actually an app that tells people where the poop is on the streets in San Francisco, so that they can avoid the areas. My buddy is an electrician in San Francisco and he is told to wear puncture resistant boots because of the syringes all over the place. This state is a mess and emissions is the least of the Democrat Politicians problems. Take it from me, the one party system doesn’t work. This state is way over populated, our infrastructure is falling apart, we have a water shortage, wild fires are out of control every year, we have black outs cause the grid can’t handle the strain, crime is out of control and all these morons care about is “Climate Change” and not offending people. What are they doing about it? Setting strict emissions and pushing wind, solar and electric cars. Again the one party system doesn’t work, especially Democrats.

    Reply
    1. I know a lady who lived in CA over 50 years and is looking to move out to Fla. She can’t afford the taxes and doesn’t like being told how much rent she is allowed to charge for her high end rental properties and the slackers who try to rent there.

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      1. So many law abiding tax paying people are leaving this state in droves. Illegals and homeless are replacing them. California would be a 3rd world country if it wasn’t part of the United States. We are not quite there yet, but we are definitely getting there.

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        1. If California were a country, it would be the 5th largest economy in the world, more productive than India and the United Kingdom.

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          1. I can buy the fifth largest economy in the world. Most productive? Not with all the welfare recipients and bums in the streets.

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            1. Not liking the facts doesn’t make them lest facts.

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  3. No state should be allowed to set the standards for the rest of the country. Just another way yo put the companies at war with their customers and add layers of complexity and cost for automakers. Instead of companies like Ford and gm kissing Newsome’s ass, they should perhaps move their operations and employees to more regulation and business friendly states and let everyone know the reason why.

    Reply
    1. So you’re saying it’d be a good business decision for Ford and GM to refuse to sell cars in California?

      That seems like cutting off ones nose to spite the face.

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      1. No gurt, he’s saying that the Democrats are f**cking up California!

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        1. Nah California’s fine.

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          1. Spoken like a true Democrat!

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            1. I don’t really pay attention to politics I just like the weather and the food here.

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              1. So do I and I had to watch Cali deteriorate in the last 40 years, so try paying attention to the politics! Also you have as much understanding about this article as you did with GM trucks and dui’s! gurt

                Reply
                1. It’s fine here, stop believing cable news.

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                  1. What part do you live in? Because I smell a liar.

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                    1. Between Penngrove and Petaluma if you know the area, “an hour north of the bay” if you don’t.

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                    2. Got it you’re in one of those rich snob parts no wonder you think everything is fine.

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                    3. I made $60k last year.

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                2. A Democrat with money, the worst kind of hippocrite!

                  Reply
                  1. I don’t have a lot of money.

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      2. They should sell cars, but all offices, parts warehouses, call centers, etc. would be relocated out of state like Toyota did. Money talks and if enough businesses flee, people may change their minds about the idiots they put in office.

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        1. Toyota didn’t do that though. They have a huge presence in California still.

          Reply
  4. Steps to Make American Great Again:

    1) Immediately shut down the EPA
    2) Jail all top-ranking officials within it.
    3) Modify the Constitution to ban any “environmental protection” department within the government moving forward
    4) Get rid of any law or regulation based on the great hoax known as “global warming”
    5) Any state like California that wants to defy these orders gets the Ukraine treatment

    Reply
    1. Oh yeah – and build a wall around CA

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    2. “Any state like California that wants to defy these orders gets the Ukraine treatment”

      Uhhhhh what does that mean exactly?

      Reply
      1. You know.

        Reply
  5. So does this mean Texas and the heartland can right emission standards not requiring DEF???

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  6. OMG, another earth shattering article by J Lo the noted automotive journalist!

    Reply
  7. So, why can’t say Texas institute their own emissions standards? It’s either a state right or it’s not.

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    1. Agreed! If states are allowed to set their own standards, Texas or any other state should be allowed to set their own higher standard, not have to comply with some standard set by politicians in Washington.
      Like it or not, “global warming” has been happening since the last ice age.

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      1. They can, nobody will care. OEMs build to the strictest regulation, which in this case is California.

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    2. They can, but what would it matter? The issue is in emission standard strictness.

      California being the state with the highest population means it’s the state with the most customers. Having the most customers means if they set a tighter reg, then OEMs are going to build their cars for the whole country to that spec, because they build to the strictest regulation.

      Texas making their own lax laws would have no effect, OEMs would still build to California regulations as to not have to manufacture two different cars.

      Reply
  8. Check off another of Carrothead’s dumb orders !

    Reply
  9. What an underhanded way of forcing new regs on the rest of the country.

    Reply
    1. How so?

      Reply

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