Larisa Manescu, larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled against the Trump Administration’s efforts to skirt the law and give a pass to allow automakers to pollute more. Today’s ruling states that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) must apply the higher penalties issued under the Obama administration when automakers fail to meet the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
This is the second time in the last three years that the Court has reinstated higher penalties for automakers that the Obama administration issued to comply with NHTSA’s obligation to update the penalty under the Inflation Adjustment Act.
In 2016, the Obama administration increased the CAFE penalty from $5.50 to $14 per tenth of a mile per gallon, as required by Congress under the Inflation Adjustment Act. After the Trump administration unlawfully delayed the implementation of the Obama rule that increased penalties for automakers in 2017, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump NHTSA’s delay rule and won, with the Second Circuit overturning the delay rule and reinstating the $14 penalty.
Last year, Trump’s NHTSA issued a new rule to undo the Obama penalty and lower it to the amount in effect since the 1970s, arguing that the CAFE penalty is not a civil penalty under the Inflation Adjustment Act The Sierra Club and NRDC challenged this new rule, once again, along with 13 states and DC. Today, the Court upheld that the CAFE penalty constitutes a “civil monetary penalty” under the Inflation Adjustment Act.
In response, the Sierra Club’s Senior Attorney Alejandra Núñez released the following statement:
“Today’s ruling is a victory for climate and the health of communities across the country. Once again, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that the Trump Administration cannot give away polluting passes to automakers who lag behind on meeting standards required by law.
“This is yet another reminder to Donald Trump’s NHTSA that the agency must comply with the law and set strong civil penalties that promote fuel economy and encourage automakers to meet the clean car standards.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.