A coalition of Republican-led states is suing the Biden administration and the State of California in an attempt to prevent new electric vehicle mandates on truck owners and operators throughout the country from going into effect.
Two legal challenges were filed over the new emissions rules, Nebraska Attorney General Hilgers said in a statement on May 13.
That petition lists the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its administrator Michael Regan as defendants.
In the legal filing, plaintiffs argue the EPA’s rule imposing stringent tailpipe emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles effectively forces manufacturers to produce more electric trucks and fewer internal combustion trucks.
The EPA has said the new rules, which are set to take effect for model years 2027 through 2032, are needed to help combat climate change and will help avoid up to 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades.
However, the infrastructure needed to support such vehicles is “virtually nonexistent” and they also have shorter ranges and require longer stops, according to Mr. Hilgers.
That lawsuit lists the EPA and the California Air Resources Board as defendants.
The rules would ban big rigs and buses that run on diesel from being sold in California starting in 2036.
According to the CARB, the new regulation will save around $26.5 billion in statewide health benefits from criteria pollutant emissions and save fleet owners $48 billion in operating costs.
However, those regulations force truckers in and out of California to “retire their internal-combustion trucks if they want to come to California” and “transition to more expensive electric trucks” by 2035, the states wrote in the lawsuit.
Rules Could Impact ‘Untold Number of Jobs’
According to Mr. Hilgers, the rule also applies to “fleets that are headquartered outside of California if they operate within California” which he argues could have significant nationwide effects on the supply chain.Both lawsuits argue that the Biden administration and California regulators are exceeding their respective authorities in introducing the rules.
The multi-state coalitions are being led by Nebraska.
The state is joined in its legal challenge by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Additionally, the Arizona State Legislature and the Nebraska Trucking Association have joined the lawsuit.
In a statement, Mr. Hilgers claimed California and an “unaccountable EPA” are “trying to transform our national trucking industry and supply chain infrastructure.”
“This effort—coming at a time of heightened inflation and with an already-strained electrical grid—will devastate the trucking and logistics industry, raise prices for customers, and impact an untold number of jobs across Nebraska and the country,” he continued. “Neither California nor the EPA has the constitutional power to dictate these nationwide rules to Americans.”
The Nebraska attorney general added that he was proud to be leading efforts to “stop these unconstitutional attempts to remake our economy.”
The EPA and CARB both declined to comment when contacted by The Epoch Times, citing pending litigation.
