- The EPA says it will send California’s pollution waivers to congress for review.
- Waivers enabled California to effectively outlaw combustion engines by 2035.
- A congressional review could let Republican lawmakers overturn the waivers.
Tariffs on foreign-built cars aren’t the only plans President Trump and his team have been working on that could have a huge impact on the auto industry. Now Trump’s new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator has started a process that could end rules due to outlaw combustion engines after 2035.
Related: EPA Freezes Grants And Threatens To Cut Over 1,000 Jobs
During the Biden administration’s tenure the EPA granted California waivers to set its own pollution standards, one of which resulted in a decision to demand only zero-emissions new cars be sold by 2035, effectively killing off ICE cars a decade from now.
A Nationwide Ripple Effect
While the rule was specific to California, several other states, including New York and Washington, planned to adopt the same policy. Trump axed California’s right to set its own standards, but Biden reinstated them after beating him in the 2020 election to help combat climate change.
Now, Lee Zeldin, Trump’s pick for EPA chief, says he will send the agency’s decision to grant waivers to congress for review. Once there, Republicans could overturn the ruling using the Congressional Review Act, and it was pretty clear from his comments at the White House that Zeldin’s aim was to repeal the rules.
“We will submit it to Congress [who] will have the opportunity, through the Congressional Review Act, to make that waiver go away,” he said on Friday, standing alongside President Trump. “We will do everything in our part to help the American people to make life in America more affordable.”
When Biden reinstated the waivers he didn’t subject them to congressional review, arguing that there was no need because they were state, not federal rules. This opinion was also shared by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, Bloomberg reports.
But Zeldin believes the waivers should be reviewed by congress because they have the potential to affect so much of the country – roughly 30 percent of America’s vehicle market.
“The American people are struggling to make ends meet while dealing with rules that take away their ability to choose a safe and affordable vehicle for their families,” Zeldin said in a statement. “As an agency, we are accountable to Congress, but most importantly we must be accountable to the American people.”
A Political Ping-Pong Game for Automakers
Dealers worried that the rate of growth in the EV market has slowed could welcome the news, but it could require some major plan-changing by automakers who have built their long-term strategies around ICE being illegal in several states a decade from now. Those plans can be changed – at a cost – but car bosses must be feeling wary about what could happen if the Democrats return to power in four years time and want to reinstate the overturned rules.
How would you vote if you were reviewing the waivers? Do you think California’s Clean Cars II program should be allowed to remain in place, or would you like to see combustion cars live on past 2035?