California crafting new auto pollution rules after Trump attacks

California’s clean-air regulator is pressing ahead with work on new rules for auto emissions in the state and possible new tax credits for electric cars to counter the Trump administration’s effort to corral the state’s regulatory heft.

The California Air Resources Board and five other agencies recommended the state backfill the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles that is currently set to expire in late September. Although funding would be subject to available resources, vouchers, rebates or other incentives would help support sales and expand the availability of used EVs, the agencies said in a report released Tuesday.

The recommendation is one of several identified by the agencies to help support adoption of zero-emission vehicles in response to a June executive order from California Governor Gavin Newsom. Liane Randolph, chair of the state’s air resources board, said the agency is also starting the process of crafting a new set of emission rules for automobiles.

“It’s important for California to do everything it can within our authority to not have to depend on the federal government” to reduce tailpipe emissions from cars, she said. The effort is in an early stage. Randolph said it can take as much as three years to finalize new standards.

The push is part of an ongoing battle between California and the Trump administration over the state’s authority to regulate carbon emissions from automobiles. President Donald Trump in June signed a measure to repeal waivers granted under former President Joe Biden that allowed California to set automobile pollution standards that are more stringent than federal requirements.

In response, California and several states sued to block the maneuver, which terminated California regulations that would have banned the sale of gasoline-powered cars in 2035. Newsom also directed CARB to begin working on new rules to either build on that policy or act as an alternative if a court upholds the Trump administration’s actions.

Randolph said California could lose several years of emission reductions due to the federal government’s rollback efforts, which she called “illegal.”

Other recommendations in the report released Tuesday include building more charging stations along major travel corridors and exploring options to give electric cars special access to carpool lanes on highways in the state. That privilege is set to end after September, after Congress did not extend a federal program that allows states to grant exemptions to carpool lane rules that normally limit access to vehicles with multiple passengers.

— By Keith Laing (Bloomberg)