Biden Finally Grants Waiver For California’s Electric Car Mandate. Trump Could Reverse It.

The Biden administration granted California permission Wednesday to enforce its nation-leading pollution rules for cars and trucks, a little over a month before Donald Trump returns to office with a promise to dismantle the state’s regulations.

The federal EPA’s approval of the waivers — which grant California the authority to exceed the Clean Air Act — give the state’s nation-leading rules an extra layer of protection from Trump, who has blasted its plans to phase out new gas-powered car sales by 2035.

A Trump spokesperson said Wednesday that the president-elect has “a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, including stopping attacks on gas-powered cars."

“When he takes office, President Trump will support the auto industry, allowing space for both gas-powered cars AND electric vehicles," said Karoline Leavitt, Trump's incoming press secretary.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement California should retain its “longstanding authority” to go further than federal standards. “Today’s actions follow through on EPA’s commitment to partner with states to reduce emissions and act on the threat of climate change,” he said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom used the announcement to jab Trump, whom he’s clashed with over climate, federal disaster funding, immigration policy and more.

“Naysayers like President-elect Trump would prefer to side with the oil industry over consumers and American automakers, but California will continue fostering new innovations in the market,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

The rules, which cover passenger vehicles through model year 2035 and trucks through 2031, are intended to phase out gasoline-powered cars and set stricter emission limits on smog-forming nitrogen oxides from heavy-duty diesel trucks.

California lawmakers backing the rules originally hoped to receive them earlier this year to ward off a reversal by Congress. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to overturn recently passed federal agency rules during a change in administration. However, Wednesday's waivers explicitly state they shouldn't be considered subject to the CRA and the Government Accountability Office issued an opinion last year agreeing with that interpretation.

The Trump administration can still revoke approved waivers, as it did in 2019 for an earlier version of California's clean-car rules. But the approvals give California and other blue states that adopt its rules more power to oppose the decision in court. The move also means a Trump EPA will have to go through an administrative process to revoke the waiver, which took 18 months last time.

California officials have been waiting on the waivers since May 2023 in the case of the car rules, and nearly three years for the nitrogen oxide rule. The state is still waiting on six more waiver requests for everything from locomotives to lawn care equipment. That includes a high-profile rule requiring large truck and bus fleets to transition to electric models.

Environmental groups backing the rules say they’re confident most, if not all, of the waivers will be granted.

State officials earlier this month canceled a pending rule to require increasing sales of electric motorcycles, after postponing a vote scheduled just after the November election.

Dean Florez, a California Air Resources Board member and former state lawmaker, said the state likely withdrew the rule under the assumption that it wouldn't receive a waiver from Trump.

"I hope and assume it was 100 percent the reason — and if not, it absolutely should have been," he said.

EPA has until Jan. 20 to approve California’s six remaining waivers. The agency said Wednesday that it "continues reviewing additional waiver requests from California and is working to ensure its decisions are durable and grounded by law."

Mike Lee contributed to this report.