Courthouse 'Rush' Begins As EPA Publishes Vehicle GHG Rollback

摘要

Despite a short delay, the Trump administration has published its final rule eviscerating Obama-era vehicle greenhouse gas standards, prompting what some expect to eventually be a litigation "rush" as parties quickly begin filing suits challenging the controversial measure. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a conservative group, quickly filed the first suit claiming the rules remain too stringent — though an array of states, environmentalists and others opposed to the rollback poised to file their own attacks. The starting gun for such suits was formally fired April 30 when the Federal Register published the joint final rule by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), triggering a two-month window for filing suit. However, the actual dash to the courthouse was delayed by a day after the Register experienced a "technical issue" that delayed publishing its April 30 edition until late in the evening, in part due to the massive size of the rollback regulation. That meant any group wanting to file suit was unable to do so before the close of business April 30. At the same time, the rule's publication is opening the door for likely administrative petitions to reconsider elements of its final rule, which slashed the required improvement in vehicles' fuel economy and emissions from nearly 5 percent annually to 1.5 percent.