"A coalition of Republican state attorneys general on Tuesday announced two lawsuits against the Biden administration and the state of California challenging emissions rules for trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.

The first lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, challenges the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules, finalized in March. Those rules, which the EPA has projected will avert up to 1 billion tons of carbon emissions over a three-decade period, will require an estimated 30 percent of heavy-duty trucks to be fully emissions-free by 2032.

In a second lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of California, plaintiffs argued that California’s statewide truck emissions rules are essentially a nationwide mandate due to California ports’ role as major way stations for shipping. The Golden State’s rules would require half of all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles acquired by state and local governments to be emissions-free between 2024 and 2026, with the requirement increasing to 100 percent in 2027. It also required that all new drayage trucks — those used to convey containers and bulk goods — added to California’s fleet be zero-emission beginning on Jan. 1."

Zack Budryk reports for The Hill May 14, 2024. [2]