Description: Challenge to the Trump administration's amendment of greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks.
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Competitive Enterprise Institute v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/08/2022 Order Download Motion to continue holding case in abeyance granted. Courts Holding Challenges to Trump-Era Vehicle Standards and Policies in Abeyance While Challenges to Biden Reversals Proceed. In June 2022, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued orders continued to hold in abeyance cases filed in 2019 and 2020 that challenge the Trump administration’s greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for model year 2021-2026 light-duty vehicles, the 2019 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rule preempting state limits on tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions and zero-emission vehicles mandates, and EPA’s withdrawal of California’s waiver for such regulations. The D.C. Circuit will hold these cases in abeyance while it considers lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s revised greenhouse gas emissions standards for 2023 and later model year light-duty vehicles, fuel economy standards for model years 2024-2026, and reinstatement of California’s waiver. 05/09/2022 Motion Download Motion filed by coordinating petitioners to continue holding cases in abeyance. 01/26/2022 Motion Download Motion to govern filed by respondents. 12/27/2021 Status Report Download Status report filed by respondents. 09/29/2021 Status Report Download Status report filed by NHTSA and EPA. 07/01/2021 Status Report Download Status report filed by respondents. 04/02/2021 Order Download Motion to hold in abeyance granted. D.C. Circuit Held Challenge to Trump-Era Vehicle Standards in Abeyance. On April 2, 2021, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the motion by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to hold in abeyance the proceedings challenging the Trump administration’s greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks (the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficiency (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks). The court ordered that the cases be held in abeyance pending further order of the court, with status reports on the agencies’ review of the rule to be filed every 90 days. On April 6, it was reported that EPA Administrator Michael Regan had said the Biden administration was on track to propose new standards by the end of July 2021 (as directed by President Biden’s Executive Order 13990). 03/08/2021 Reply Download Reply filed in support of motion to hold cases in abeyance. 03/01/2021 Opposition Download Opposition filed by state and local government petitioners to respondents' motion for abeyance. Petitioners representing local and state governments and environmental and public health organizations opposed the federal respondents’ request for an indefinite abeyance. The state and local government petitioners argued that the “sheer magnitude of … accumulating harms, which include greenhouse gas emission increases greater than the total emissions of many States,” warranted judicial oversight to prevent delay or to ensure an opportunity for review should the challenged standards be left in place. The state and local government petitioners instead suggested a six-month extension of the deadline for the federal respondents’ brief and corresponding extensions for other briefs. The public interest organization petitioners supported this suggestion. 03/01/2021 Response Download Response filed by public interest organization petitioners in opposition to respondents' motion to hold cases in abeyance. 02/19/2021 Motion Download Motion filed by federal respondents to hold cases in abeyance pending implementation of executive order and potential reconsideration. In the lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks (the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficiency (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks), the federal respondents asked the D.C. Circuit to hold the cases in abeyance while the agencies evaluate the SAFE Rule pursuant to Executive Order 13990, which specifically targeted the SAFE Rule for review. The D.C. Circuit is already holding in abeyances the cases challenging EPA’s withdrawal of California’s waiver for greenhouse gas emission standards and zero emission vehicle mandates and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s rule preempting state regulation of vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. 01/28/2021 Order Download Motion for voluntary dismissal by Clean Fuels Development Coalition et al. granted. 01/25/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amici curiae American Thoracic Society et al. in support of state, local government, and public interest organization petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amici curiae Senator Tom Carper and Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. in support of the coordinating petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by Coalition to Protect America's National Parks et al. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amicus curiae Consumer Reports in support of coordinating petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amici curiae economists in support of coordinating petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Professor Michael Greenstone as amicus curiae in support of petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law School as amicus curiae in support of state and local government, public interest organization, and advanced energy and transportation petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief of amici curiae National League of Cities et al. in support of state, local government, and public interest petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by scientists and economists in support of state, local government, and public interest organization petitioners. 01/21/2021 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed on behalf of ethanol producers in support of the separate petitions filed by public interest organization and state and local government petitioners. One of the 11 amicus briefs was filed by Clean Fuels Development Coalition and other petitioners that had originally filed their own petition of review to argue that EPA failed to consider the role ethanol could play in improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions and that EPA failed to consider impacts from harmful aromatic compounds. 01/20/2021 Amicus Brief Download Brief filed by amicus curiae Professor Jason Bordoff in support of petitioners. 01/14/2021 Brief Download Opening brief filed by petitioners Competitive Enterprise Institute et al. Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and related petitioners argued that NHTSA should have considered more lenient standards that would result in safer vehicles and also contended that the agencies overstated the health risks of fine particulate matter. 01/14/2021 Brief Download Opening brief filed by state and local government petitioners. The state and local government petitioners argued that EPA had arbitrarily rescinded the 2017 final determination that the standards for model years 2022-2025 remained appropriate, and that EPA disregarded emission increases, failed to exercise independent judgment by uncritically accepting analysis prepared by NHTSA, and relied on underlying analysis containing numerous errors. The state and local governments also asserted that NHTSA acted unlawfully by improperly elevating non-statutory policy objectives of the “core objective of conserving energy,” preparing and relying on underlying analysis that including “fundamental flaws,” and failing to comply with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and NEPA. 01/14/2021 Brief Download Opening brief filed by petitioners National Coalition for Advanced Transportation et al. Industry petitioners argued that EPA and NHTSA “distort[ed] the record on consumer acceptance of electric vehicles,” mischaracterized electric automakers’ reliance on credits, and disregarded safety benefits of electric vehicles. 01/14/2021 Brief Download Opening brief filed by public interest organization petitioners. The public interest organization petitioners argued that EPA and NHTSA relied on a “fundamentally flawed analysis of pollution impacts” that “gave scant, if any consideration to the huge increases in climate-disrupting pollution” the amendments would cause. The public interest organization petitioners also contended that the agencies’ analysis of consumer effects was unlawful and arbitrary, that the cost-benefit analysis included “large and patent mistakes,” that NHTSA used inconsistent fuel-economy projections, and that the agencies failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. 10/19/2020 Order Download Order issued granting motion for leave to intervene, granting in part Competitive Enterprise Institute's motion to supplement record and otherwise referring motions to supplement record to merits panel, and setting briefing format and schedule. D.C. Circuit Merits Panel to Decide Most Issues Related to Administrative Record Content in Challenges to Light-Vehicle Standards; Briefing to Begin in January. In the cases challenging the revised greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted petitioner Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI’s) motion to complete the record to the extent it requested the inclusion of EPA’s December 2019 Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter in the administrative record. CEI argued that it should be included because EPA explicitly relied on it. The D.C. Circuit referred the remainder of CEI’s motion to the merits panel, along with the entirety of a motion by State and Municipal and Public Interest Petitioners to complete and supplement the record. The other documents CEI seeks to add to the record are two Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee peer review reports; CEI argued that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler had said he considered these reports. The State and Municipal and Public Interest Petitioners asked that the record include certain documents related to interagency review; the petitioners said these documents were probative of their claim that EPA failed to exercise independent judgment or apply technical expertise. The D.C. Circuit’s order also established the briefing schedule for the cases, with three initial briefs from petitioners due on January 14, 2021, respondents’ brief due April 14, 2021, and reply briefs due June 1, 2021. The petitioners had asked for a more accelerated briefing schedule that would have allowed for oral argument in the current term; they had also requested that they be permitted to file five briefs. 10/08/2020 Order Download Motions for leave to intervene granted. 09/28/2020 Reply Download Reply filed in support of respondents' motion to establish briefing schedule and format in the alternative. 09/25/2020 Reply Download Reply filed by Competitive Enterprise Institute and related petitioners in support of motion to complete the record. 09/25/2020 Reply Download Reply filed by State and Local Government Petitioners and Public Health and Environmental Petitioners in support of motion to complete and supplement the record. 09/21/2020 Reply Download All petitioners, state and local government intervenors, and public interest organization intervenors filed combined reply in support of motion of to establish briefing schedule and format and opposition to respondents' motion to establish alternative briefing schedule and format. 09/18/2020 Response Download Response filed in opposition to State and Local Government Petitioners' and Public Health and Environmental Petitioners' motion to complete and supplement the record. 09/18/2020 Response Download Response filed in opposition to Competitive Enterprise Institute's motion to complete the record. 09/14/2020 Opposition Download Respondents filed opposition to petitioners' motion to establish briefing schedule and format and motion to establish briefing schedule and format in the alternative. EPA and NHTSA Opposed Petitioners' Request for Briefing Schedule. EPA and NHTSA contended that the motion to establish a briefing schedule was premature because motions to supplement the record and motions to intervene were still pending. If the court decided to establish a briefing format and schedule, the respondents requested that the petitioners’ opening briefs be due on January 14, 2021, with final briefs due on June 14, 2021. The respondents also argued that the petitioners’ proposed word counts were unreasonable and requested reduced word counts. 09/14/2020 Response Download Response filed by Alliance for Automotive Innovation to petitioners' motion to establish briefing schedule and format. 09/04/2020 Motion Download All petitioners, state and local government intervenors, and public interest organization intervenors filed motion to establish briefing schedule and format. Petitioners Requested Briefing Schedule to Allow Oral Argument in Current Term on Amendments to Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Standards. Petitioners asked the D.C. Circuit to establish a briefing schedule that would allow for oral argument during the current term, with briefing to begin on November 10, 2020 and be completed on March 5, 2021. They also requested that the court permit petitioners to file five separate principal briefs. 08/28/2020 Motion Download Motion filed by Competitive Enterprise Institute to complete the record. Petitioners Sought to Supplement Record in Challenges to Vehicle Emission and Fuel Economy Standards. Two motions to add documents to the record were filed in proceedings challenging EPA and NHTSA’s revision of greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks. In the second motion, petitioner Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) sought the addition of three scientific documents regarding particulate matter. CEI argued that the final rule explicitly relied on one of the documents, and that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler considered the other two documents. 08/25/2020 Motion Download Motion to complete and supplement the record filed by State and Municipal Petitioners and Public Interest Petitioners. The State and Municipal Petitioners and Public Interest Petitioners requested that the D.C. Circuit order the respondents to add six interagency-review documents in the administrative record: two drafts of the final rulemaking notice submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget; EPA comments to NHTSA on those drafts; and two EPA documents that provide context for its comments. The petitioners asserted that the deliberative privilege that would ordinarily shield EPA comments and the related documents from judicial review either did not apply or was “overcome by showings of need by [the petitioners] and bad faith or improper behavior by the Agencies.” The petitioners argued that the documents were probative of their claim that EPA failed to exercise independent judgment or apply technical expertise, and also that the available evidence showed that EPA was “cut out of the process of developing its own rule” and that “the Executive Branch took unprecedented and improper steps to hide the facts.” 07/16/2020 Reply Download Reply filed in support of automobile manufacturers' motion to intervene. 07/09/2020 Opposition Download Opposition filed by respondents to automakers' motion to intervene. 06/29/2020 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene filed by automobile manufacturers. 06/22/2020 Statement of Issues Download Statement of issues raised. 06/19/2020 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene in support of respondents filed by Ingevity Corporation. 06/01/2020 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene in support of respondents filed by public interest organizations. Public interest organization petitioners filed a motion to intervene in support of the respondents in CEI's proceeding to oppose arguments that EPA and NHTSA should have adopted weaker standards. 05/29/2020 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene in support of respondents in Case No. 20-1145 filed by states. On May 29, 20 states, two cities, and several air quality management districts in California sought leave to intervene in support of the respondents in CEI’s proceeding to oppose any arguments that the agencies should have adopted weaker standards. 05/22/2020 Motion to Intervene Download Motion to intervene in support of respondents filed by Alliance for Automotive Innovation. 05/01/2020 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. Challenge to Amended Vehicle Emission and Fuel Economy Standards Filed in D.C. Circuit. Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit challenging EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s final rule amending the greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks. In its petition, CEI asserted that the final rule—which the agencies titled the “The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule”—was based on inadequate consideration of the amended standards’ adverse traffic safety impacts. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on April 30, and additional challenges are expected in the near future. -
California v. Wheeler
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/29/2020 Statement of Issues Download Statement of issues filed by state and municipal petitioners. 05/27/2020 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. Proceedings Filed in D.C. Circuit to Challenge Relaxation of Vehicle Standards. Petitioners that included 23 states, five cities, and 12 environmental and consumer organizations filed petitions for review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s promulgation of the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, which relaxed greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and fuel economy (CAFE) standards for light-duty vehicles. The states and cities and most of the organizations also sought review of EPA’s 2018 Mid-Term Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Model Year 2022-2025 Light-Duty Vehicles, which the D.C. Circuit previously held was not final agency action. Other petitioners challenging the relaxation of the standards included air quality management districts in California, the National Coalition for Advanced Transportation (a coalition of companies that supports policies to promote electric vehicles and technologies), Advanced Energy Economy (a trade association supporting technologies including energy efficiency, demand response, renewable energy, and other technologies), and a number of utilities. -
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Wheeler
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Environmental Defense Fund v. Owens
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South Coast Air Quality Management District v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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National Coalition for Advanced Transportation v. EPA
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Advanced Energy Economy v. Wheeler
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Calpine Corp. v. EPA
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Clean Fuels Development Coalition v. EPA
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 01/14/2021 Motion Download Unopposed motion to voluntarily dismiss petition filed. 07/31/2020 Statement of Issues Download Statement of issues filed by petitioners Clean Fuels Development Coalition et al. 06/29/2020 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed.