There are still 68 days for California to best insulate its world-leading pollution rules from newly elected President Donald Trump — and Governor Gavin Newsom is feeling the heat.
Newsom went to Washington on Tuesday to gently remind President Joe Biden that California will lose its power to enforce much of its climate and clean air rules on January 20 — Trump’s first day in office.
Trump made it abundantly clear during his campaign that his administration will revoke state permission under the Clean Air Act to enforce zero-emission vehicle regulations. His appointment Monday of former Rep. Lee Zeldin, a critic of New York’s electric vehicle policy modeled on California’s, to lead the U.S. EPA has done nothing to allay California’s fears.
“I was surprised that it came out so early, before the traditional top-level appointments like Justice and Defense and State and Treasury,” said Bill Magavern, policy director at Coalition for Clean Air. “I think this indicates that rolling back protections for our air and water is very high on Trump’s agenda.”
So Newsom is trying to get those exemptions — eight in all, covering everything from locomotives to leaf blowers. His office put the argument broadly on Tuesday:
“Continuing California’s leadership – as the fifth largest economy in the world – in the pursuit of a more affordable and accessible, cleaner, greener future is more important than ever,” he said in a statement. “We have no plans to slow down now.”
To be clear, even if Biden approves the waivers, Trump can revoke them, as he did last time for California’s passenger car waiver rules.
But last time it took more than 18 months for EPA to do it. And if Biden doesn’t grant the waivers, it will be much easier for Trump to simply deny California’s outstanding requests, rather than go through a lengthy administrative process to revoke authorizations already granted.
“It’s harder for the Trump administration to run the whole process of repealing waivers,” said Matt Davis, who worked as a health scientist at the EPA from 2009 to 2019 and is now legislative director for the League of Conservation Voters. “It is not at all difficult to simply grant an exemption that has not yet been made, and both careers and political [appointees] at EPA are well aware of this.”
And while the most closely watched waiver requests, including zero-emission mandates for passenger cars, commercial trucks and locomotives, will almost certainly face pushback from Trump’s EPA, lower-profile rules aimed at electrifying port ships and landscape equipment, can be less tempting. have to go through a lengthy administrative process.
“If you’re a Trump political appointee trying to look good and make your mark, it’s not a big price to pay to take it down,” Davis said.
Other California officials are more optimistic. Former President Barack Obama’s EPA approved seven waivers between the 2016 election and Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
“I expect they will all be ready again,” said Hector De La Torre, a board member of California Air Resources. “They’ve had them, they’ve analyzed them and we’ve been communicating with them all the time. So it’s just a matter of finishing.”
EPA spokesperson Shayla Powell said in a statement that the agency “closely reviews the requests to ensure its decisions are sustainable and based on the law.”
“Going forward, the Biden-Harris EPA is committed to maintaining its successful track record in the fight for cleaner air,” she added.
The industry groups most affected by the waivers are avoiding the issue so far. Chris Shimoda, senior vice president of the California Trucking Association, said the group is focused on improving an EV purchasing mandate for truck fleets, regardless of whether Biden grants California a waiver to enforce it.
“We’re really just going to continue to focus on the rule itself,” he said. “The arrangement would not be feasible regardless of who won the presidency.”
There are already signs that Trump’s victory is slowing California down. CARB removed a zero-emissions rule for motorcycles from its agenda at the last minute last week. The agency hasn’t said why, but environmentalists assume it’s because a waiver is needed — making it number 9.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that the election played a role,” Magavern said.
Do you like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO’s California Climate newsletter.
