EMA withdraws lawsuit over leadtimes of California low NOx ‘Omnibus’ regulation

12 August 2022

The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) has withdrawn its lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The lawsuit, filed in May, alleged that CARB’s low NOx emission standards for heavy-duty engines—a.k.a. the CARB Omnibus regulation—failed to provide manufacturers with legally-required minimum four years of leadtime, and sought to delay the implementation dates of the regulation.

Congress mandated the minimum four full model year leadtime requirement in the Clean Air Act for both the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and CARB, the EMA said. The EPA has now commenced its review of CARB’s preemption waiver request and held a hearing that included discussion of the leadtime issue. As a result, EMA has chosen to withdraw its lawsuit without prejudice.

EMA President Jed Mandel said, “EMA filed the lawsuit to achieve clarity and prompt resolution on the leadtime issue—something all stakeholders should want. EMA was never challenging CARB’s independent right to regulate. At the time we filed, EPA had not yet initiated its review of CARB’s request for a waiver. We are pleased that EPA has now solicited public comment and the review process is underway. We encourage EPA to act promptly and confirm EPA’s own longstanding and explicit analysis finding in 1994 that the Clean Air Act’s four-year leadtime requirement applies to CARB.”

Source: EMA