OAN Staff Abril Elfi
2:55 PM – Friday, August 15, 2025
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against the state of California over its emissions regulations.
On Thursday, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) over their “Clean Truck Partnership,” which has pushed truck manufacturers to phase out internal-combustion engines as a part of their effort to have “zero emission” engines by 2036.
According to reports, there were two separate challenges filed, which include: One to heavy-duty truck restrictions and another to the guidelines for light-duty vehicles.
“Agreement, contract, partnership, mandate — whatever California wants to call it, this unlawful action attempts to undermine federal law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “President Donald Trump and Congress have invalidated the Clean Air Act waivers that were the basis for California’s actions. CARB must respect the democratic process and stop enforcing unlawful standards.”
The lawsuit was originally brought by several truck manufacturers, including Volvo.
The DOJ argued that the state had been illegally trying to supersede federal environmental regulations.
In June, President Donald Trump signed congressional resolutions that invalidated waivers granted by the Biden administration.
“Without these waivers, the Clean Air Act prohibits [the California Air Resources Board] from attempting to enforce those regulations,” the DOJ said. “Yet, in an affront to the rule of law, [the California Air Resources Board] seeks to circumvent that prohibition by enforcing the preempted emissions standards through the Clean Truck Partnership.”
The DOJ went on to state that California was effectively attempting to “impose a nationwide ban on internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks by 2036” via the regulations promulgated through the “Clean Truck Partnership.”
“The decision whether to ban internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks rests ultimately with the federal government. And it has declined to take such a far-reaching step,” the suit said. “CARB continues to threaten truck manufacturers who refuse to comply with its preempted regulations with severe civil sanctions and hostile regulatory treatment.”
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