AG declares “victory” in EPA decision

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has closed the file on California’s request for a waiver for its Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced Wednesday just a few months after filing a formal comment letter opposing the request.

In September, Drummond and 23 other state attorneys general filed a letter with the EPA arguing that the agency should not allow California to exceed its statutory and regulatory authority by implementing an electric-vehicle mandate that would disrupt the nation’s logistics and transportation industries. California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation attempts to impose an electric-truck mandate on fleet owners, operators and manufacturers, including trucking companies that drive one truck for as little as one day per year in California.

Under the Clean Air Act, California cannot enforce Advanced Clean Fleets without an EPA waiver.

“California’s mandate is an absurd overreach that would have inflicted serious harm to our fossil fuels industry,” Drummond said. “This victory helps keep our supply line in order across the United States. I am grateful for this resolution, and I will continue to fight against the radical climate agenda of the far left.”

Earlier this month, the EPA granted several other requests that California made, but it did not act on its Advanced Clean Fleets request. California withdrew its request Monday and the EPA closed the file Tuesday.

Also signing the comment letter were the attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Read the full letter.