MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Seventeen states with vehicle emissions standards tied to regulations established in California are facing tough decisions about whether to follow the country’s toughest new regulations, which require all new cars, pickup trucks and SUVs to have a Electric or hydrogen drive must be operated by 2035.
Under the Clean Air Act, states must adhere to the federal government’s standard vehicle emissions standards unless they choose to follow, at least in part, California’s stricter requirements.
Among them, Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Vermont are expected to adopt California’s ban on new gasoline-powered vehicles. Colorado and Pennsylvania are among the states that are unlikely to do so. The legal basis is a little murkier in Minnesota, where the state’s “clean cars” rule has been a political minefield and the subject of litigation. Meanwhile, Republicans are rebelling in Virginia.
The Minnesota Auto Dealers Association says the new California rules will automatically enter the state if it attempts to block them.
“The technology is such that the vehicles just don’t perform as well in cold weather,” said Scott Lambert, president of the trade group. “We don’t all live in Southern California.”
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency officials say the state would have to start an entirely new rulemaking process to incorporate California’s changes. And in court filings and legislative hearings, they have said they do not plan to do so now.
“We’re not California. Minnesota has its own plan,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement. He called Minnesota’s program “a smart way to expand, rather than narrow, consumers’ options.” Our priority is to lower costs and expand choices so Minnesota residents can drive any vehicle that suits them.”
Oregon regulators are accepting public comments through September 7 on whether to adopt the new California standards. Colorado regulators, which adopted the older California rules, will not follow the new California ones, the administration of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said.
“While the governor shares the goal of rapidly transitioning to electric vehicles, he is skeptical that 100% of cars sold will be electric by a certain date because of rapidly changing technology,” the Colorado Energy Office said in a statement.
Pennsylvania regulators, which have only partially adopted California’s older standards, said they will not automatically follow the new rules. Under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf last year, Pennsylvania began the regulatory process to fully conform to California rules but abandoned it.
Virginia was on track to adopt California’s rules under legislation passed last year when Democrats had full control of Virginia’s government. But Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, and GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin say they will push to separate their state.
Minnesota’s auto dealers are trying to make their state’s current rules — and the possibility that they might tighten them to accommodate California’s new restrictions — a topic for the fall election. Control of the legislature and the governor’s office is at stake, and traders hope to convince the 2023 legislature to reverse the regulations unless they win in court first, Lambert said.
The MPCA, with Walz’s support, adopted California’s existing standards by drafting administrative regulations last year amid a bitter battle with Republican lawmakers angry that the Legislature was left out of the decision. Lawmakers even tried, unsuccessfully, to withhold funds from Minnesota’s environmental agencies. One victim was Laura Bishop, who resigned as MPCA commissioner after it was revealed she lacked the votes in the GOP-controlled Senate to get confirmation.
Walz and his government framed Minnesota’s Clean Cars Rule as a fairly painless way to increase the availability of electric vehicles and help the state meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. The rule aims to expand battery-powered and hybrid vehicle offerings beginning in the 2025 model year by requiring manufacturers to comply with current California low- and zero-emission vehicle standards.
Lambert said the state’s auto dealers are not opposed to electric vehicles. They currently account for 2.3% of new car sales in Minnesota, and he expects consumer interest to continue to grow. But the lower cold-weather range of battery-powered vehicles makes them less attractive in northern states, he said. Minnesota’s rules already threaten to saddle dealers with more electric vehicles than their customers will buy, he said, and adopting California’s ban would make things worse.
According to Lambert’s reading, under federal law, states must either fully adopt California’s regulations or follow less stringent federal emissions standards. He said they couldn’t pick and choose parts of everyone. And that effectively means there’s a “book ban” on sales of new conventionally-powered vehicles in Minnesota beginning in the 2035 model year, he said.
Lambert’s association was already fighting Minnesota’s existing clean car rules in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and his petition called for California to make the changes it announced late last month. A key question is whether “future changes to the incorporated California regulations will automatically become part of the Minnesota regulations,” the traders argue.
Lawyers for the MPCA maintain that this is not the case and have asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler has been making similar arguments for months, including before a skeptical Senate state committee last March.
Aaron Klemz, chief strategy officer for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, which will bring its own arguments against the dealers to court, acknowledged the legal landscape is confusing. And he said it’s not clear if his group will eventually ask Minnesota to follow California’s new ban.
“We haven’t analyzed the California rule enough to know if we will push for its adoption in Minnesota,” Klemz said. He noted other issues are coming into play, including EV incentives in the anti-inflation bill President Joe Biden recently signed into law and the stated intentions of some of the big automakers to go all-electric.
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Associated Press reporter Jim Anderson in Denver; Gillian Flaccus in Portland, Oregon; and Marc Levy of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania contributed to this story.
