Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

EPA grants California request to regulate vehicle emissions

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday granted permission to California to enforce its own greenhouse gas emissions standards. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said that "the decision puts law and science first," and reinforces an automaker-backed agreement on tighter national vehicle emissions standards announced last month by US President Barack Obama. Referring to the previous denial of the waiver, Jackson said that Tuesday's decision marked a return to the "traditional legal interpretation of the Clean Air Act that has been applied consistently during the past 40 years." Granting the waiver allows California and 13 other states that have adopted California's standard to begin applying tighter restrictions to 2009 model year cars and light trucks, in advance of the 2012 national restrictions. California has been seeking permission from the EPA to set its own vehicle emission and greenhouse gas standards since 2005. The request was initially denied in December 2007, on the grounds that the regulations were aimed at addressing global climate change and that California was limited to "address pollution problems that are local or regional." The EPA reconsidered California's request earlier this year after being directed by Obama to do so. In May 2008, a report by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that the Bush White House had influenced the March 2008 decision and that the administration later refused to turn over requested documents concerning the decision to the committee, citing executive privilege.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 30, 2009 (boomark / email).