Professor Frank weighs in on attempted rollbacks to emissions standards

The Trump administration’s recent attempt to roll back emissions standards and nullify California’s authority to set its own emissions rules echoes a similar fight between federal and state authorities from 10 years ago, Professor of Environmental Practice Richard M. Frank told Sacramento’s Capital Public Radio.

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to scrap emissions rules implemented under President Obama and in the process end California’s current ability, via the Clean Air Act, to obtain waivers allowing the state to set its own standards. Many other states choose to follow California’s standards.

In April, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and officials from 16 other states sued the federal government over the planned rollbacks.

“This issue is in a way a repeat of an episode that occurred during the George W. Bush administration,” Frank told Capital Public Radio’s Ben Bradford.

California first tried to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from cars in 2008, and the Bush administration denied its waiver. California sued.

“That litigation was brought by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, represented by then California Attorney General Jerry Brown,” Frank added.

California dropped its suit, Bradford’s report notes, after Obama took office and negotiated with automakers and California to adopt the rules the Trump administration now wants to repeal.

Richard M. Frank ’74 is a leader in the field of environmental law, professor of environmental practice and the founding director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.