THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Agency has begun an effort to revoke California’s vehicle emissions waivers adopted by Massachusetts, 15 other states, and the District of Columbia to set emission standards beyond federal requirements for cars and trucks.
California has been able to set stricter standards for the emission of hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide through more than a hundred different waivers that it has submitted to the federal agency since 1967. Massachusetts adopted California’s vehicle emissions standards in 1990 after Congress allowed other states to adopt the approved standards. But, the Trump administration sent three of California’s most recent emissions waivers to Congress for review on February 14 under the Congressional Review Act, a statute that allows lawmakers to assess and overturn rules made by federal agencies.
If Congress nullifies the waivers, the states will lose an important tool to help reach their climate goals, advocates say.
The three waivers in question – which were all approved under the Biden administration – are the Heavy-duty Omnibus Regulation, which requires manufacturers to sell lower emissions engines for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks; the Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation, which requires a certain percentage of a manufacturers’ overall sales to include sales of zero-emission vehicles; and the Advanced Clean Cars II Regulation, which increases the percentage of new car sales required to be zero-emission vehicles with a goal of reaching 100 percent zero-emissions vehicles by 2035.
The EPA did not respond to a request for comment but said in a press release that “the two waivers regarding trucks not only increased the cost of those vehicles but also increased the costs of goods and the cost of living for American families across the country.” On the campaign trail, the Trump campaign’s press secretary said Trump would revoke the waiver on gasoline-powered cars “on day one.”
Transportation is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts, responsible for nearly 40 percent of statewide emissions in 2021. The state’s strategy for reducing this pollution relies on the Advanced Clean Cars waiver, which officials see as a key policy in promoting the purchase of electric vehicles. Last year, the growth rate of electric vehicle sales slowed nationwide, jeopardizing 2025 decarbonization targets for the transportation sector.
“We’re not on pace to meet our goals currently, and one of the most effective tools we have to reduce emissions is to begin or accelerate the pace at which we’re electrifying vehicles in our cities,” said David Melly, the legislative director at the Environmental League of Massachusetts. “The [emissions standards] are designed to [help] states to coordinate regionally to establish supply chains and create a demand overall for more environmentally friendly vehicles.”
Sending the waivers to Congress for review is an unprecedented move, said Emily Green, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. The Congressional Review Act has not previously been applied to these types of waivers in the past. The law allows congressional oversight over “rules” that federal agencies make, but the waivers are not “rules,” according to Green.
“We need to slash climate pollution from cars and trucks to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” said Emily Green, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. “The Trump administration is illegally trying to avoid a public process to revoke authority for states, including Massachusetts, to protect the air, the environment, and to give their citizens the choice to move on from gas-guzzling cars and trucks.”
Congress has 60 days to act. There will likely be legal challenges around the EPA’s decision to submit these waivers to Congress as there have been with many of the Trump administration’s slashing of the federal budget without congressional approval.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the vehicle emissions standards in the state, said that the office will “review the full scope of the Trump Administration’s challenge to longstanding vehicle emissions regulations, which have improved air quality and public health across Massachusetts.”
The federal Clean Air Act of 1967 preempted state governments from being able to set their own air pollutant emissions standards for motor vehicles and engines but provided an exemption for California. Under the law, California can apply to EPA for a waiver from the federal preemption. The state has received over 100 federal preemption waivers as of 2024.
During his last administration, President Donald Trump revoked some of California’s waivers in 2019 and faced a legal challenge from 23 states. The Biden administration reinstated the waivers and also faced a legal challenge from oil companies and 17 states that argued the federal government had exceeded its authority. In December 2024, the Supreme Court declined to review a constitutional challenge to California’s authority to enforce its emissions rules.
The trucking industry has applauded the Trump administration for trying to revoke the emissions standards. Kevin Weeks, executive director of the Trucking Association of Massachusetts, said in a statement that his group appreciates the EPA submitting the waivers to Congress.
“The electrification of the medium- and heavy-duty truck segment presents significant challenges,” said Weeks. “The current state of technology, affordability, applicability, and infrastructure are not adequately prepared for widespread electrification in this sector.”
Melly said that the increased short-term costs of implementing vehicle emissions standards should be weighed against the costs the American public already bears because of vehicle emissions. “We can’t keep kicking the can down the road because we know that these emissions have serious impacts on public health,” he said. “Delaying has more costs associated with it and we’ve got to start somewhere.”
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