Potential collision of legal battles: Two disputes between California and the US federal government could end up in the same court, following the posting of a Federal Register notice.
The U.S. government has filed arguments to keep a lawsuit challenging California's Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) in the federal district court for the Eastern District of California. The dispute revolves around the control of emissions from non-gasoline combustion vehicles over 14,000 pounds.
The CTP, signed by a group of engine and truck manufacturers in August 2023, aims to edge out internal combustion engines in favor of zero emission vehicles by the mid 2040's. The second permitted adoption of California's Advanced Clean Truck rule is at the heart of the controversy.
The lawsuit was filed by the same group of manufacturers who signed the CTP two years ago. The Clean Truck Check, a part of California's State Implementation Plan (SIP) required by the EPA, is at the centre of the dispute. This check requires trucks to download data on pollutants four times per year, with any trucks that operate in California required to perform the test, even if the test is conducted in another state.
The U.S. government, representing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has expressed substantial concerns that the Clean Truck Check rule's requirement for out-of-state trucks to comply is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution due to its extraterritorial reach. The EPA's Federal Register notice signaled it would approve California's SIP except for the part that requires out-of-state trucks to comply with the Clean Truck Check.
The state of California filed its suit in the Northern District after President Trump signed the bill retracting the waivers. However, the U.S. government argues that since the state's capital city of Sacramento is in the Eastern district, actions taken by the state government-like the signing of the CTP-should be litigated in that jurisdiction.
The federal government also argues that the two cases should remain in their current venues because the parties in the cases are different. The OEMs in the Eastern District have asked the court to stop California from enforcing the provisions of the CTP.
The Federal Register comment period for the EPA's objections to the Clean Truck Check rule lasts until September 25. The U.S. government's argument states that transferring the case risks denying the United States' request for injunctive relief to remedy the irreparable harm it suffers from California's enforcement of preempted standards.
The lawsuit filed by the state of California in the Northern District arose from a vote that passed both houses of Congress in June and was later signed by President Donald Trump, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn several waivers granted to California by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has raised concerns about the Clean Truck Check's extraterritorial reach, and the outcome of this lawsuit could have significant implications for California's environmental initiatives.
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