Trump DOJ Sues California Over Clean Truck Deal, Saying It Seeks to Undermine US Law

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that it is suing California over its emission standards for trucks, escalating the battle over the state’s authority to set its own clean air standards.

The DOJ filed two complaints in federal courts against the California Air Resources Board over a partnership the state inked with heavy-duty truck and engine manufacturers.

Through the Clean Truck Partnership, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association and other major truck manufacturers agreed in 2023 to meet the state’s vehicle standards that require the sale and adoption of zero-emissions technology. The manufacturers pledged to do so regardless of any legal challenges that might arise to the state’s authority to set more stringent emission standards.

In exchange, CARB agreed to work with manufacturers and provide more lead time to meet regulatory requirements before imposing new regulations.

The DOJ argues in its press release that the federal Clean Air Act preempts state regulations of vehicle emissions unless the Environmental Protection Agency grants California a waiver. In June, President Donald Trump signed into law congressional resolutions to invalidate waivers previously adopted by the Biden administration, including the state’s ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars beginning by 2035.

“Agreement, contract, partnership, mandate — whatever California wants to call it, this unlawful action attempts to undermine federal law,” Adam Gustafson, acting assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the DOJ, wrote in a statement.

CARB declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Brian Beveridge, executive director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, said he is not surprised because the Trump administration has been “committed to rolling back environmental standards on every front.”

“We’re awash in diesel emissions and this administration doesn’t care,” Beveridge said. “It’s been amazing to me how the minute the administration took on this kind of a fight, all of these industries just decided, ‘The gloves are off, we don’t have to do any of that stuff.’”

The DOJ complaints come after four truck manufacturers filed a lawsuit against CARB this week over its zero-emission vehicle plan, stating the manufacturers were “caught in the crossfire” between California’s demands and the federal government.

Andrea Issod, a senior attorney with the Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program, said she doesn’t buy that argument.

“They’re painting this story that they’re caught between the federal and state regulators and the trucking companies are the victims,” Issod said. “It’s apparent they’ve been working with the Trump administration to back out of the obligations that they made with California.”

The Federal Trade Commission, earlier this week, closed its investigation into whether truck and engine manufacturers and their trade association violated antitrust laws by entering the partnership. The commission wrote that the “agreement forced manufacturers to produce ‘zero emissions’ engines rather than internal combustion engines, and these output restrictions remained in place even if the CARB regulations were later invalidated.”

Issod said California has been clear that the state needs to reduce pollution to meet its obligations under the Clean Air Act and protect its residents.

“If these trucking companies want to back out of this agreement, California is going to be creative in other ways to get those reductions it needs,” Issod said.

This story originally appeared on KQED.