Biden admin expected to offer California waiver to ban gas-powered cars by 2035: report

The Biden administration is reportedly considering giving California permission to ban new gas-powered cars in the state as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to undo a host of green energy policies next year.

California set an emissions standard to ban new gas cars in the state by 2035, but such a regulation requires a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to proceed.

Just weeks before Biden’s term ends, the EPA is reportedly planning to grant the waiver to allow the state to set stricter emissions standards for electric vehicles than allowed by the federal government, the Washington Post first reported, citing several sources briefed on the matter.

The EPA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but a spokesperson for the agency told POLITICO’s E&E News that they are still reviewing the regulation “to make sure its decisions are durable and grounded in the law.”

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The report comes just days before the Supreme Court rejected a request from oil companies to challenge California’s constitutional authority to establish its own standards on electric vehicles.  

The California Air Resources Board requested a waiver from the federal government for permission to require that 22% of new cars sold be zero emissions by 2025 and achieve a complete ban on gas cars in 2035, citing climate change concerns. 

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The state’s waiver requests were challenged by several conservative states and oil groups who questioned whether the state had legal authority to impose such emissions standards, but on Monday, the Supreme Court denied their petition for review.

“EPA’s decision to grant California this preemption waiver is based on a rock-solid legal foundation and decades of precedent, and it ensures vital clean air protections for millions of people,” said Alice Henderson, director and lead counsel for the Transportation and Clean Air Policy for Environmental Defense Fund, following the Supreme Court’s decision.

Trump, however, is reportedly planning to specifically target California’s EV standards when he assumes office.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump blasted Biden’s actions related to California’s proposed EV mandate regulations.

“Fresh off imposing his insane, job-killing electric vehicle mandate at the federal level, Crooked Joe Biden is preparing to slaughter the remnants of the U.S. auto-industry by approving California’s waiver request outlawing the sale of all gasoline-powered automobiles,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Leavitt said that, if elected, on his first day in office, Trump would revoke both federal EV requirements and any waiver issued for California by the Biden administration.

California officials met in early December to establish ways to “Trump proof” the state before the president-elect takes office, allocating $25 million for a legal defense fund to fight the incoming administration.