Wisconsin joins emissions-standards lawsuit against EPA

Listen to this article

Wisconsin is suing the Environmental Protection Agency to protect states’ ability to adopt emissions standards that are stricter than those set at the national level. Attorney General Josh Kaul joined a coalition of 23 other states and three cities in the lawsuit Friday.

The EPA attempted to revoke parts of a waiver granted to California in 2013 permitting the state to adopt standards for greenhouse gases and zero emissions that are at least as protective as federal standards. Under certain conditions, other states can adopt California’s Advanced Clean Car Standards for cars and light-duty trucks with model years 2017 to 2025.

The coalition filed a lawsuit against the EPA in the D.C. Circuit Court on Friday. It asks the court to protect states’ right to adopt the Advanced Clean Car Standards. It also includes a protective petition asking the circuit court to review a separate National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation. The regulation would forestall California’s standards. The federal government moved to dismiss a separate lawsuit against the NHTSA regulation on the grounds that the action belongs in the D.C. Circuit Court. The protective petition preserves the coalition’s right to challenge this regulation as the case briefing continues.

Kaul joined the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia; as well as the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York in the filing.

Kaul’s office said waivers have reduced emissions by hundreds of thousands of tons annually.