Back in 2022, the California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB, approved a plan that would ban the sales of any new gas powered vehicles by 2035. It would require any new vehicles sold to be zero-emission, meaning they would have to be electric. It allowed the sale of used gas powered and hybrid vehicles, restricting only new models. They laid out a detailed plan of how they would implement the change to effectively happen by their end date. It was a controversial action on the part of the state, something many expected would be overturned by federal rule. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also know as the EPA, recently gave the green light to California’s plan.
The EPA granted two of the necessary waivers that were needed in order to go through with the plan.
The EPA Administrator, Michael S. Regan, gave a statement after announcing that the agency would grant the waivers. In it, he stated that California has loyally requested their waivers from the EPA in order to protect Californians. He continued to say that the EPA is strongly staying connected to their commitment and partnership with California, and any other state taking action against emissions and combatting climate change.
At the same time as approving the gas powered vehicle sales ban, the EPA gave its approval for another California plan.
This second plan that they passed for the golden state is California’s plan to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. This plan is connected to the sales ban, as nitrogen oxide emissions largely come from heavy-duty vehicles. With the EPA’s approval, California will now require a reduction of 75% of nitrogen oxide emissions in the next couple of years, and an eventual reduction of 90% to come in the few years to come after that.
California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted positively to the announcement of EPA’s approval.
“Clean cars are here to stay,” said Newsom in his statement. He spoke proudly that, under the Biden-Harris administration, there is federal support for California’s plans to fight pollution and generate clean air for the state. Newsom and others, such as the president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, John Bozzella, expect that Donald Trump will, at the very least, attempt to revoke the passed waivers. Bozzella is not on Newsom’s side when it comes to the ban, as he believes there should be a national standard regarding ways to combat pollution, not something left up to states to decide. However, he feels that ultimately the regulations will need to be figured out by policymakers and settled in the courts.
Many activists were pushing the EPA to approve California’s plan ahead of Trump officially stepping back into office, knowing he would likely fight to stop the ban. Even though they are expected to fight to reverse the EPA’s action of approving the ban, California is now able to get the ball rolling for their plan and can continue on with that process until an overruling decision is formally made.
