The lawsuit will be the state’s 23rd place against the Trump administration.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom pleaded Thursday about efforts to suspend the state’s clean vehicle program, calling it an illegal attack on California’s environmental policy.
“We won’t stand up as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again,” Newsom said in a statement on May 22.
Newsom said the Senate’s actions are illegal and undermine California’s efforts to curb air pollution through the California Air Resources Committee. He also said that if the vote was supported, it could cost California taxpayers $45 billion in medical expenses.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the levels of contaminants that vehicles can legally release, under the Clean Air Act, which is prioritized over state law. The EPA can grant exemptions to states implementing stricter standards they have made for California more than 100 times since the Clean Air Act became law in 1970.
The California lawsuit specifically challenges the Senate calling for the Congressional Review Act, allegedly by Bonta and Newsom.
California is home to the country’s largest vehicle market and has become a leader in how automakers develop cars and how other states adopt emission standards.
The lawsuit comes on the 23rd when the state filed the Trump administration. Other litigation addresses tariffs, education funding and other policies.