EPA revives California emissions rule

EPA revives California emissions rule

	Published : Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:21 By : Agencies Print this Story

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The Bush administration has reopened California's stalled petition seeking to control greenhouse gases after the Supreme Court's ruling this week that the government can regulate emissions from cars.

The action by the Environmental Protection Agency breathes life into California's effort to become the first state to cut tailpipe emissions from cars, light trucks and sport utility vehicles. It also could influence the outcome of an auto industry lawsuit in California to block the state regulations, contained in a 2002 state law.

'We have reviewed the issues within the waiver request,' EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood said Tuesday. 'We are moving forward to the next steps of the process.'

The agency next will schedule a public comment period and public hearing.

At stake is California's 2005 petition to gain an exemption from the federal Clean Air Act, which does not regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars. The state law passed in 2002 would reduce the emissions from cars and light trucks by 25 percent and from sport utility vehicles by 18 percent starting in 2009 -- and requires the waiver for implementation.

Ten other states have since adopted California's standard, while Maryland is considering a bill that would enact it.

The EPA had argued that the agency could not regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles because to do so would require an increase in fuel economy standards, something only the U.S. Department of Transportation can set.

But in its 5-4 decision Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA had such authority.

'It's clear EPA has to consider California's waiver request now,' said Sean Hecht, executive director of the environmental law center at the University of California, Los Angeles. 'That doesn't mean it's a foregone conclusion with respect to the waiver request.'

California has special authority under the federal Clean Air Act to set its own vehicle pollution standards because it began regulating air pollution before the federal government did in the 1970s. Other states that want to adopt California's standard cannot implement it until the EPA grants California a waiver.

Monday's court ruling also prompted movement Tuesday in a separate lawsuit brought by the auto industry to prevent California from moving forward with its regulations if it receives the waiver.

The California Air Resources Board, along with several environmental groups, officially notified U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii of the Supreme Court's decision. In January, he placed the lawsuit on hold pending a decision by the court.

It's unclear what the next step will be in the case, which is being heard in federal court in Fresno. But both sides said the Supreme Court's decision favors their argument.

'The case will affect all of the pending litigation that California has with both the auto companies and Midwestern energy companies,' California Attorney General Jerry Brown said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.

The Natural Resources Defense Council intends to ask the judge to dismiss the case in light of the Supreme Court's ruling, spokesman Craig Noble said.

Raymond Ludwiszewski, an attorney representing the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, interpreted the ruling by the Supreme Court as a directive that greenhouse gas regulations should be crafted at the federal level.

'I think the Supreme Court ruling makes it clear that the court viewed global warming as an issue that should be dealt with nationally and not at the state level,' Ludwiszewski said Tuesday.

California's attempt to cut tailpipe emissions is a key component of the state's broader effort to reduce greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020. The auto regulations could help the state reach about 17 percent of its target, Air Resources Board spokeswoman Gennet Paauwe said.

The state also has sued the six largest automakers in an attempt to collect millions of dollars it expects to spend on repairing the damage from floods, wildfires and other natural disasters that are expected to intensify as temperatures rise.

The state is the world's 12th largest producer of greenhouse gases.

The auto industry, meanwhile, also has sued Vermont, which is seeking to implement California's tailpipe regulations. That trial is scheduled to begin next week.