Trump administration presses appeal to strip back California's emissions waivers
Why it matters: Nothing changes for workshops or fleets yet, California's stricter emissions rules for heavy vehicles remain in force while the case proceeds, but an EPA win would let Congress kill those state rules outright.
A US District Court in Washington DC ruled on 2 September that the EPA had wrongly tried to reclassify California's Clean Air Act waivers as Congressional Review Act "rules," which would have let Congress overturn them by simple resolution. The court ordered the waivers restored to their prior status and granted California's request for a preliminary injunction. The EPA, acting through the Department of Justice, filed its appeal on 14 September to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, arguing the district court got the "orders vs rules" distinction wrong. The case is now pending before the appeals court, with no ruling date set.
Source: California Attorney General's Office · District court ruling 2 September 2026; EPA appeal filed 14 September 2026.