Court dismisses suits against truck GHG rules

OREANDA-NEWS. A federal court has dismissed lawsuits seeking to overturn Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals on 24 April turned away the lawsuits, saying the trucking and fuel companies that challenged the regulations lacked legal standing.

Two parties in the lawsuits, the California Trucking Association and a construction company, could not show that a successful challenge would address their alleged harm of having to pay more for new trucks. The two challenged only EPA's GHG rules and not the linked fuel economy standards issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which would have a nearly identical effect on new trucks.

"Even were we to vacate the EPA standards, the NHTSA standards would still increase the price of vehicles. Accordingly, the California petitioners cannot demonstrate either that EPA's standards cause their purported injury or that a favorable decision by this court would redress it."

The association and construction company had claimed EPA violated the Clean Air Act by failing to submit the GHG rules to its Science Advisory Board for review.

The regulations, finalized in 2011, call for up to a 20pc reduction in fuel use by medium- and heavy-duty trucks over model years 2014-18. Heavy-duty vehicles account for about 12pc of US oil consumption and 6pc of GHG emissions.

The court also dismissed a similar lawsuit filed by POP Diesel, a company that promotes the use of vegetable oil in diesel fuel. The court said it lacked jurisdiction over the company's challenge to the NHTSA regulations and lacked standing to challenge the EPA rules.

A new round of GHG and fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, such as delivery trucks and tractor-trailers, is under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.