California Asks EPA for Permit to Ban Gas-Powered Vehicles by 2035

Cars sit in heavy traffic on Highway 101 in Corte Madera, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is asking the Biden administration for permission to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

But the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, made up of 450 U.S. companies that manufacture fuel and petrochemicals, urged President Joe Biden to reject California’s request in a letter sent May 26.

“California has officially asked the Biden administration for permission to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2035—an unprecedented move that will deny millions of Americans the ability to choose for themselves the types of cars or trucks they want to drive,” the group’s CEO, Chet Thompson, said in the statement.

The group also suggested Congress needed to be ready to push back against the movement in defense of American consumers, the nation’s energy, and national security. Approving California’s waiver could trigger 20 other states to follow with their own bans, the group said.

A growing number of states, including Rhode Island, Washington, Virginia, Vermont, Oregon, New York, and Massachusetts, have adopted similar regulations to ban gas cars by 2035.

“The Biden administration is trying to convince the public it’s not out it ban gas stoves or vehicles,” Thompson said. “But if they give California the green light, there will be no escaping that label or its legacy of restriction. We’re hopeful that a moderate President Biden takes the reins. We urge him to deny California’s request outright and rescind EPA’s own proposal to eliminate most internal combustion engine vehicles.”

CARB asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on May 22 to approve a waiver under the Clean Air Act to implement its new rules.

“These vehicles will permanently displace emissions from conventional vehicles,” wrote CARB Executive Officer Steven Cliff, adding that motor vehicles and other mobile sources are the greatest source of emissions in California.

The 60-page waiver request reportedly says CARB’s program will cost $210.35 billion to implement through 2040. It’s expected to cut smog from light-duty vehicles by 25 percent by 2037.

EPA plans to follow its regular process for the waiver, spokeswoman Shayla Powell told The Epoch Times.

“As with all waiver requests from California, we’ll follow an open public process in considering it, as the agency routinely does,” Powell said.

CARB voted last year to ban the sale of new internal combustion vehicles in the state by 2035. The Advanced Clean Cars II act (pdf) will also phase out gas-powered vehicles over the next 12 or so years.

The regulations mandate 35 percent of vehicles manufactures in 2026 and sold in California would have to be zero-emission cars, up from 12 percent currently required.

California residents and visitors can still drive gas-powered cars in the state after the deadline, and it allows for one-fifth of sales after 2035 to be plug-in hybrids, which run on batteries and gas.

The EPA, which sets air quality standards for vehicle emissions, has granted waivers for the Golden State to impose standards stricter than the rest of the nation.

In April, the EPA granted California’s Clean Air Act a similar permit for CARB’s program to ban the sale of diesel-powered heavy-duty trucks after 2036.

The push to rapidly transition vehicles from fossil fuels to electric come from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s climate action plan. Newsom signed an executive order in 2020 (pdf) calling for new heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state to be zero emission by 2045, but CARB wanted to speed up the transition.

Reuters contributed to this report.