Sacramento, CA – Today, the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance (CFCA) joined a multi-state coalition of businesses and associations in a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency challenging its recent decision rubber-stamping California’s latest emission standards.

“California’s new heavy diesel emission standards will raise costs for everyone, said Elizabeth Graham, Chief Executive Officer of the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance. “These increasingly stringent standards will make it much more costly for trucking companies to replace their fleets, which we all depend on for a continual supply of food, fuel, and other essential commodities. And this isn’t just a California issue; it’s affecting businesses across the country because Congress has enabled California to federalize its air emission standards.”

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA sets baseline vehicle emission standards, and preempts the states from setting their own emission standards. But the Clean Air Act allows California (and only California) to set its own standards for emissions without any meaningful oversight by the federal government; the Act requires only that EPA issue a “waiver” allowing for California to enforce standards of its choosing. The Clean Air Act then requires states to adopt either the EPA’s standards or California’s standards in order to comply with the Act. To date, 17 states and the District of Columbia have implemented standards chosen by California into their federally-enforceable state implementation plans.

Joining the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance are H.R., Ewell, Inc., the Western States Trucking Association, the California Asphalt Pavement Association, the New York Construction Materials Association, Inc. and the Associated General Contractors of New York State LLC.

The Petition for Review is available here. The case is H.R. Ewell et al. v. EPA, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.