Today, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced he is leading multi-state coalitions in two lawsuits to block electric-vehicle mandates on truck owners and operators throughout the country.
A coalition of 24 states has filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to challenge the new regulation of emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, put forth by the President Biden Administration. Then a separate coalition of 17 states and the Nebraska Trucking Association filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California that seeks to block a package of regulations targeting trucking fleet owners and operators.
The States’ D.C. Circuit suit targets the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule imposing tailpipe emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles that compels manufacturers to produce more electric trucks and fewer internal-combustion trucks. The States’ California suit challenges a suite of California regulations called Advanced Clean Fleets. Advanced Clean Fleets requires certain trucking fleet owners and operators to retire internal-combustion trucks and transition to electric trucks. The rule applies to fleets that are headquartered outside of California if they operate within California.
Both lawsuits argue that the Biden Administration and California regulators have exceeded their constitutional and statutory authority in attempting to transition to electric trucks.
“California and an unaccountable EPA are trying to transform our national trucking industry and supply chain infrastructure. This effort—coming at a time of heightened inflation and with an already-strained electrical grid—will devastate the trucking and logistics industry, raise prices for customers, and impact untold number of jobs across Nebraska and the country,” stated Attorney General Mike Hilgers.