The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) released the following statement regarding the US Supreme Court’s denial of review in the California Car Rule case:
“We are disappointed by the US Supreme Court’s decision. Minnesota is not California—not a single area of the state fails to comply with federal air quality standards. As a result, we believe that under the federal Clean Air Act, Minnesota should not be eligible to adopt California’s emissions rules. By not taking this case, the Court of Appeals’ flawed decision on this issue remains in place,” said UMLC Senior Trial Counsel James Dickey. “But the good news is that the Court of Appeals did rule that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency cannot adopt any new California rules without going through new rulemaking. The language of the California Car Rules made that uncertain, but because of our lawsuit and the Court of Appeals’ decision, any attempt to adopt California’s gas-vehicle ban or similar rules must go through rulemaking and a hearing before the people of Minnesota. And the Minnesota Legislature now has the opportunity to protect Minnesotans from these harmful policies being copied and pasted from California into our state.”
