In a move to safeguard environmental regulations, New York Attorney General Letitia James, backed by 10 other state attorneys general, is taking legal action against the Trump administration. This lawsuit is a response to what they see as an unlawful effort to undermine clean vehicle standards that were set in place to combat pollution and protect public health. Specifically, the complaint centers on the administration's attempt to rescind California's Clean Air Act waivers that New York and other states use to enforce their own emission rules. "Every New Yorker deserves to breathe clean air and live in a healthy environment," James stated, as reported by the New York Attorney General's office.
The core of the problem stems from the administration's decision to classify these waivers as "rules" through the Congressional Review Act (CRA). According to the press release, this classification allows Congress to attempt to review and possibly overrule the waivers that were intended to promote cleaner automobile emissions. The decision to transmit these waivers to Congress marks a significant departure from long-standing EPA policy and has drawn criticism from environmental and legal experts. According to James, the administration is using a "sneaky backdoor to gut clean air standards that have been in place for decades."
At the center of the lawsuit, as outlined by the New York Attorney General’s Office, is the claim that the EPA's actions are unprecedented and violate several federal laws, including the Clean Air Act itself. The act gives California, and by extension states like New York, the authority to implement stricter emission rules than the federal baseline. The legal battle focuses on three waivers which are critical for New York: the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations, the Advanced Clean Trucks regulations, and the Omnibus regulations for heavy-duty trucks. These regulations are instrumental in New York's efforts to push for zero-emission vehicles and to address climate change.
Despite the objections raised by the attorneys general, Congress passed resolutions last month disapproving the waivers, which the president subsequently signed into law, effectively rescinding them. This unprecedented legal battle highlights the ongoing tension between state and federal authority in shaping environmental policy. The coalition of attorneys general—including representatives from California, Colorado, and Massachusetts—is fighting not only to maintain their states’ clean air standards but also to protect the longstanding framework of the Clean Air Act that has guided environmental regulation for decades.
