Oregon, other states sue EPA over auto standards

With a battle cry of “EPA get out of the way,” California, Oregon and 13 other states filed suit against the federal government on Thursday.

With a battle cry of “EPA get out of the way,” California, Oregon and 13 other states filed suit against the federal government on Thursday.

They charged the Environmental Protection Agency with stalling approval of California’s strict auto standards that are aimed at reducing the production of greenhouse gases by one third.

“(The agency) is sitting on its hands. It’s not doing what it should despite the mounting threat of climate disruption,” said California Attorney General Jerry Brown Jr. at a morning press conference announcing the suit.

By afternoon, Oregon and 13 other states had intervened in California’s lawsuit, which was filed at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Oregon adopted California’s auto emissions limits in 2005 but cannot hold auto manufacturers to the new standards for cars and trucks until California gets a waiver from the EPA.

The eight-year phase-in is supposed to begin with the 2009 model year, which auto dealers will roll into showrooms during 2008.

Cars and trucks are responsible for a third of greenhouse gases, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said in a prepared statement.

“The clean cars program is an essential part of my strategy for Oregon to combat global warming,” he wrote.

Attorney generals in Massachusetts and New York are leading the legal case for the 14 intervening states.

The Eugene-based Western Environmental Law Center also is joining the suit in support of California on behalf of eight environmental groups based in Oregon, Washington, California and Arizona.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that what may be the largest long-term threat to old growth forests and fish and clean water in Oregon may be global warming,” said Steve Pedery of Oregon Wild, one of the eight groups.

“The sooner we begin addressing this threat, the more likely we are to be able to protect those values,” he said.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Blue Water Network and the Sierra Club are also supporting California.

“As you can see,” Brown said at the Sacramento news conference, “this is a multipronged attack.”

The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, insisted it has moved expeditiously to consider California’s December 2005 request for a waiver — and has promised to act before the end of the year.

The agency had to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it has authority to regulate greenhouse gases and that didn’t happen until April, and then the agency had to allow for public comment on California’s request, said EPA spokeswoman Jennifer Wood.

“It’s unfortunate that California is more interested in getting a good headline than allowing us to make a good decision,” she said.

The federal case, however, was tangential to California’s request — and the agency was stalling on the waiver before the case reached the high court, state officials contended. Also, the comment period was completed in June, and 99.9 percent of the public that responded wrote in favor of the waiver.

“There’s not a lot of weighing to be done,” said Dan Galpern, a Eugene attorney representing environmental groups in the case.

The EPA has routinely granted California’s waiver requests 40 times since the time of the Reagan administration.

Galpern said the EPA is without legal foundation for denying California’s waiver, so the only means it has to stop the standards is to stall on issuing a decision.

“Until we have a decision we can’t challenge the decision,” Galpern said. “Even if (the lawsuit prompts) an adverse decision, we’re one step closer to putting these important programs into effect.”

The Oregon emission standards would require each automaker to bring batches of cars and trucks into the state each year to meet specific average greenhouse gas reductions for that specific batch of cars.

Some cars and trucks will have to change little to meet the standards, said Dave Nordberg, the transportation manager at the state Department of Environmental Quality.

“The companies that build the biggest, heaviest vehicles are in the least-advantageous position toward meeting the standards,” he said.

Auto companies are free to decide how they will meet the standards.Possibilities include reducing leakage from air conditioning systems, improving mechanical efficiencies and increasing gas mileage.

Consumers who drive midsized cars are unlikely to notice much difference, state officials said.

The cumulative effect, however, would be huge, according to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In California alone, it would be equal to the effect of taking 6.5 million cars off the road by 2020. If all 14 states go ahead, it’ll be like taking 22 million cars off of the road.

Plus, it would cut gasoline consumption by more than 11 billion gallons per year, Schwarzenegger said.

The California lawsuit urged the court to order the EPA to approve the waiver immediately. “Recent studies, of which the (agency) is aware, indicate the Earth may be perilously close to an irreversible melting of ice sheets within this century,” the suit said.

Because it takes so long to alter global temperature mechanisms, this is an “absolutely urgent” issue, said Dave Van’t Hof, Kulongoski’s policy adviser on sustainability.

“We’re all motivated by one simple fact,” Schwarzenegger said. “Our future depends on us taking action against global warming right now.”