SACRAMENTO (Legal Newsline) – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is asking the Trump Administration to extend the comment period on a proposed rollback of a 2010 unified national program designed to set greenhouse gas emission and fuel efficiency standards.
Becerra is asking for the public comment period on the Clean Car Standards to be extended from 60 days to 120 days. He argues that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) proposal would weaken fuel efficiency at risk to health, the environment and the U.S. economy.
“Our nation’s existing Clean Car Standards ensure that we can protect our families’ health, save consumers thousands of dollars, and tackle harmful pollution causing dangerous climate change,” Becerra said in a statement. “When it comes to a 515-page proposal of this magnitude, President Trump should not fear hearing the truth from the public about his destructive attack on America’s Clean Car Standards. The environment we leave for our children and grandchildren deserves more than simply 60 days of comment.
"We urge the EPA and the NHTSA to extend the current comment period," Becerra added. "Meanwhile, we will continue doing all we can to protect our Clean Car Standards.”
California governor Edmund G. Brown Jr., and the attorneys general of Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey Virginia and the District of Columbia have also voiced their opposition to the EPA and NHTSA proposal.