{"id":163,"date":"2025-07-15T05:25:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T09:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/?p=163"},"modified":"2025-07-18T10:51:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:51:04","slug":"who-gets-to-set-the-rules-california-ev-mandates-and-the-fight-over-clean-air-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/2025\/07\/15\/who-gets-to-set-the-rules-california-ev-mandates-and-the-fight-over-clean-air-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Gets to Set the Rules? California, EV Mandates, and the Fight Over Clean Air Authority"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/attorneys\/elymarkarian.html\">Ely Markarian<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine you\u2019re an automaker. The federal government says your gas-powered vehicles are fine. But California steps in\u2014with EPA approval\u2014and tells you they\u2019re not. Who gets to challenge that? Only the fuel suppliers footing the bill? Or the manufacturers whose fleets are directly targeted?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the U.S. Supreme Court: both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s more or less what happened in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/24-7_8m58.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/24pdf\/24-7_8m58.pdf\">Diamond Alternative Energy LLC v. EPA<\/a><\/em>, a case about electric vehicle mandates masquerading as a fight about standing. On June 20, the Court ruled that fuel companies have standing to challenge a 2022 EPA decision allowing California to enforce tougher emissions standards than the federal government. The decision didn&#8217;t settle who\u2019s right on the merits\u2014but it cleared the way for a fight that could reshape national climate policy and the auto industry\u2019s future, at least during the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it all hinges on California\u2019s decades-old hall pass from the Clean Air Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><strong>California\u2019s \u201cGolden Ticket\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most states have to follow the EPA\u2019s emissions rules. California does not. Thanks to an obscure provision in the Clean Air Act, California can ask the EPA for permission to set its own, stricter vehicle emissions standards\u2014on the theory that the state faces \u201ccompelling and extraordinary conditions.\u201d Smog-choked valleys? Sure. Global climate change? That\u2019s where it gets spicy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the last 20 years, California has repeatedly used its waiver authority to push automakers toward electrification. Sometimes the EPA says yes. Sometimes no. And depending on the administration, yes can become no, and no can become yes again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the timeline whiplash:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>2008 (Bush)<\/strong>: EPA says <em>no<\/em>\u2014you can regulate local smog, not the global climate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2013 (Obama)<\/strong>: EPA says <em>yes<\/em>\u2014bring on the EV mandates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2019 (Trump)<\/strong>: EPA says <em>no<\/em> again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2022 (Biden)<\/strong>: EPA says <em>yes<\/em>, and adds even more teeth through 2035.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Each reversal comes with hundreds of pages of federal register entries. (For the masochists: 28 Fed. Reg. 10319; 73 Fed. Reg. 12156-57, 12168; 78 Fed. Reg. 2112; 84 Fed. Reg. 51328; 87 Fed. Reg. 14333.) But here\u2019s the headline: California\u2019s EV mandates are in effect again\u2014at least for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why Fuel Companies Sued (And Why the Supreme Court Let Them)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>Diamond<\/em>, a group of fuel producers sued the EPA for giving California the green light. Their complaint? That EPA overstepped its authority by approving California\u2019s regulations targeting global climate change\u2014when the Clean Air Act only permits California to regulate emissions tied to local air quality problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, the plaintiffs also had practical concerns. Seventeen other states have already opted to follow California\u2019s standards instead of the EPA\u2019s. So what starts in Sacramento doesn\u2019t stay in Sacramento\u2014and fuel producers (and manufacturers) know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EPA responded with a shrug: Relax\u2014automakers would be going electric anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SCOTUS wasn\u2019t buying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing for the majority, Justice Kavanaugh put it this way: if the rules don\u2019t matter, why enforce them? The very point of California\u2019s regulations is to push the market harder and faster toward electrification than it would go on its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So who\u2019s harmed by that extra push? Not just automakers, but the fuel companies supplying the gasoline those cars won\u2019t need. The Court pointed to a basic principle: when the government restricts Company A from using Company B\u2019s product, both companies may be \u201cobjects\u201d of regulation\u2014and thus have standing to sue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the opinion put it: ban aluminum bats in Little League, and it\u2019s not just the teams that can complain. The bat makers can too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So What Now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Supreme Court didn\u2019t rule on the legality of California\u2019s EV mandates\u2014it just said the plaintiffs can proceed. The case now heads back to the D.C. Circuit to decide whether EPA was right to approve California\u2019s plan in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the stakes are enormous. This case is about more than who sets tailpipe standards. It\u2019s about who gets to shape the national energy economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the plaintiffs win, California\u2019s ability to lead the charge on climate regulations could be clipped. If they lose, expect more states to follow California\u2019s model\u2014maybe even leapfrogging federal policy entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why General Counsel Should Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re a GC for an automaker, a logistics firm, a fuel supplier, or even a fleet-heavy business in a California-following state\u2014this case is worth tracking. The outcome could determine which vehicles you can sell, build, or operate in nearly half the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if the EPA\u2019s regulatory pendulum keeps swinging every four years, the bigger legal question may not be environmental\u2014it may be constitutional. How far can one agency go in delegating environmental authority to a single state?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Watch This Space<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The D.C. Circuit hasn\u2019t yet ruled on the merits. But the table is set. We\u2019ll be watching to see whether California\u2019s EV mandate survives\u2014or whether the Supreme Court winds up answering a much bigger question than standing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because in environmental law, as in Little League, it\u2019s not just the players who get to sue. It\u2019s anyone who\u2019s benched by the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sub>Cover photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@michael_marais?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash\">Michael Marais<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/green-and-white-number-2-HjV_hEECgcM?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash\">Unsplash<\/a><\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ely Markarian Imagine you\u2019re an automaker. The federal government says your gas-powered vehicles are fine. But California steps in\u2014with EPA approval\u2014and tells you they\u2019re not. Who gets to challenge that? Only the fuel suppliers footing the bill? Or the manufacturers whose fleets are directly targeted? According to the U.S. Supreme Court: both. That\u2019s more &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/2025\/07\/15\/who-gets-to-set-the-rules-california-ev-mandates-and-the-fight-over-clean-air-authority\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Who Gets to Set the Rules? California, EV Mandates, and the Fight Over Clean Air Authority&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":734,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[125],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"authors":[{"term_id":125,"user_id":734,"is_guest":0,"slug":"emarkarian","display_name":"Ely Markarian","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2025\/07\/markarianely-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/transportation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}