North Dakota challenges California zero-emissions vehicle law

Eight states, including North Dakota, have petitioned for the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate.

Historically, California was granted an exception to nationwide emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. By the time the Clean Air Act was passed in 1967, the state had already put into place its own emissions standards to combat its smog problem. A special provision was written to give California an exemption, allowing for “any state with emissions standards in place before March 1966 to seek a waiver for “compelling and extraordinary conditions.”  

In 2009, California was granted a waiver that applied specifically to vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, not just smog-related pollutants. In 2023, the California Air Resources Board passed a rule to require that 100% of new light- and medium-duty vehicles sold in the state be zero-emissions vehicles by 2035.

Another section of the Clean Air Act allows states that are not in compliance with certain ambient air quality standards to choose to adopt California’s standards. Minnesota adopted California’s ZEV standards, which went into effect at the beginning of 2024. 17 states and D.C. choose to follow the California rule.

The states bringing the challenge are Iowa, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming. First, all states are required to either follow federal standards or California’s standards but are prevented from pursuing regulatory innovations of their own, which elevates California’s sovereignty above all others. Second, California’s stringent regulations are imposing substantial costs on other states because the regulations apply to automakers’ fleetwide emissions; automakers make more EVs for sale and reduce ICE options regardless of the state they are eventually sold in. California’s rules drag other states along for the ride.

As Brenda Bird, Iowa attorney general, said:

“California and the Biden-Harris EPA are eliminating purchasing options for families across the country and mandating they buy more expensive electric cars at a time when they are already struggling to make ends meet. The law is clear; California does not have the power to mandate the cars Iowans drive.”

The question, as presented in the plaintiff’s appeal to the Supreme Court, is:

“May Congress pass a law under the Commerce Clause that empowers one State to exercise sovereign power that the law denies to all other States?”

It’s a good question, and one that deserves a look by the Supreme Court. Stay tuned.