The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association has sued the state Air Quality Control Commission for its November decision to adopt California’s low-emission vehicle standards.
In a filing Monday with the state district court in Denver, the dealer group charges the agency with making a capricious decision in violation of Colorado’s Administrative Procedures Act.
CADA has criticized the decision as rubber stamping California’s regulations and interfering in the free market.
This story by Eric Kulsch originally appeared in Automotive News.
In June, then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, ordered Colorado air-quality officials to issue a rulemaking that follows California clean car standards. The new rule is scheduled to kick in with the 2022 model year. State officials say it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 2 million tons per year by 2030.
California has authority under the 1970 Clean Air Act to establish air quality rules that are more stringent than those of the federal government, and 13 states, along with the District of Columbia, have signed onto those standards.
California agreed in 2010 to align with aggressive standards developed by the Obama administration designed to roughly double fuel efficiency by 2025. The Trump administration has proposed rolling back the standards to the 2020 level and revoking California’s independent standard-setting authority for vehicle emissions. A final rulemaking is expected by midyear at the latest and will be challenged in court by many states if the original plan is maintained.