Law360 interviewed Manatt's Craig Moyer, chair of the firm's Land, Environment and Natural Resources division, for an article on the enforcement of California Air Resource Board's Heavy-Duty Tractor-Trailer Greenhouse Gas Regulations.
As reported by Law360, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow California to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from trailers by requiring certain tractors and semitrailers on state highways to use aerodynamic technologies and low-rolling-resistance tires. The EPA granted CARB's request for a waiver of Clean Air Act preemption on July 31, denying opposition by auto groups. If California's waiver isn't challenged in court, it could provide a basis for EPA proceeding on a similar national standard.
"I think this rulemaking is definitely an indication of where federal standards might be going," said Moyer. "EPA can choose not to have standards as strict as California, but it cannot waive the Clean Air Act if the [law] does not authorize the underlying activity."
Read the article here.