The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday signed off on two major California clean air rules designed to reduce pollution from cars and trucks, including a ban on selling new gasoline-powered cars statewide by 2035.
Under the Clean Air Act, California has the ability to adopt more stringent vehicle emission requirements than the federal government. But the state must seek a waiver from the EPA.
The EPA granted two waivers for two regulations approved by the California Air Resources Board:
- The Advanced Clean Cars II rule, adopted in 2022, requires an increasing percentage of new cars sold by California auto dealerships to be zero-emission or plug-in hybrids. The regulation eventually culminates in a ban on selling new, gasoline-powered cars by 2035. It is slated to go into effect in 2026.
- The Heavy-Duty Omnibus rule, adopted in 2020, establishes cleaner engine standards and requires warranties for new heavy-duty vehicles. It is scheduled to go into effect this year.
The EPA action allows the state to enforce the rules, which are collectively expected to prevent more than 3,700 premature deaths and provide $36 billion in public health benefits, state officials say.
“California has longstanding authority to request waivers from EPA to protect its residents from dangerous air pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Today’s actions follow through on EPA’s commitment to partner with states to reduce emissions and act on the threat of climate change.”
Environmental groups lauded the EPA decision, which will help California tackle its largest source of pollution and greenhouse gases — the transportation sector.
“This might read like checking a bureaucratic box, but EPA’s approval is a critical step forward in protecting our lungs from pollution and our wallets from the expenses of combustion fuels,” said Paul Cort, director of Earthjustice’s Right to Zero campaign. “The gradual shift in car sales to zero-emissions models will cut smog and household costs while growing California’s clean energy workforce. EPA must now approve the remaining authorization requests from California to allow the state to clean its air and protect its residents.”
California will join the 27 countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, which have adopted policies that ban new gasoline car sales by 2035 or sooner.
Authorizing the rules ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s arrival to the White House makes it more difficult for the incoming Trump administration and other opponents to attack them, experts say.
