President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he would repeal vehicle emission rules that would boost − or some say require − the sale of electric vehicles on his first day in office but his nominee to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took a more cautious approach when speaking to senators Thursday.
Former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., who has been tapped by Trump to Trump to lead the EPA, declined to commit to rolling back what Trump and other critics of the rules have called an “EV mandate” when asked, acknowledging only that he has heard concerns about regulations put in place by President Joe Biden’s administration.
As to whether he would promise to reverse such regulations by U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, Zeldin said, “I will not prejudge outcomes” and would instead only commit to making sure the EPA under his leadership is “pursuing commonsense, pragmatic solutions” to environmental problems.
Zeldin’s remarks came as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee met to consider his nomination, with a confirmation vote needed before he takes over as EPA chief.
There is little, if any, doubt that Trump, after taking office Monday, will call for a review of − if not an outright reversal of − rules finalized in March by Biden’s EPA that set new greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and light duty trucks. Those standards, while giving automakers a break in the first few years, were so strict they likely could only be met, after fully taking effect in 2032, by two out of every three new vehicles sold being electric vehicles, barring some other technology being brought forward to lower emissions or automakers paying large fines.
“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one,” Trump said during his acceptance of the Republican nomination last July in Milwaukee, “thereby saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration.” Beyond that, Trump repeatedly cited the standards on the campaign trail, saying they would result in huge job losses to the domestic auto industry, largely headquartered in Michigan, a key swing state which he won.
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There’s good reason, legally speaking, for Zeldin to take a more cautious approach, however.
Despite Trump’s suggestion that he can reverse such rules unilaterally and at a moment’s notice, regulations such as the one finalized by EPA in March are governed by laws passed by Congress, including the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), which sets processes that must be followed when agencies set about making − or rewriting − standards.
During Trump’s first term, his Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ran into just such a problem when it moved to quickly rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy enacted by former President Barack Obama, that allows some individuals brought into the country without legal immigration status as children to remain. The Supreme Court found, in a 5-4 decision in 2020, that while DHS had authority to rescind the rule, it hadn’t followed the APA in doing so in providing sufficient justification for the change.
Earlier in Trump’s term the question also arose whether a move to bar entry into the U.S. people from certain majority Muslim countries was based on religious bias, with critics arguing that made it unlawful. The court found the policy within the president’s authority, though the question of whether its necessity had been prejudged on an issue outside of the national security grounds his administration cited still was one that required an answer.
Those questions were clearly on Zeldin’s mind on Tuesday as he was asked about any response to overturning the emissions standards and he mentioned that he must adhere to the APA on at least two occasions. “It is my obligation to be follow… the law,” he said, noting that any indication he or any other official had decided on an outcome before beginning a rulemaking process “could be used against any kind of rule or regulation that might be made.”
That means that regardless of what Trump says or orders on emissions standards when he enters office, it will likely take months − if not longer − to set new emissions standards for the auto industry.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, also asked Zeldin to commit that he would not try to overturn any waivers granted to his state, allowing it and others that follow California’s lead to require stronger emission standards for cars and trucks, saying the Clean Air Act authorized the state to receive those waivers. Last month, as one of his administration’s final major acts on environmental policy, the Biden administration approved a final waiver allowing California to implement a 2035 ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars.
With Trump expected to challenge that waiver, however, Zeldin demurred, saying again he would not “prejudge any future outcomes” but would follow the law.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump’s EPA pick cautious on changing electric vehicle rules