UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ...

Case 1:08-cv-07837-PAC Document 51 Filed 10/31/2008 Page 23 of 26
Cent. Valley Chrysler-Jeep, Inc. v. Goldstene, 529 F. Supp. 2d 1151, 1156 (E.D. Cal. 2007).
Part of the EPA’s mandate under the CAA is to set standards relating to emissions from new
vehicles. 42 U.S.C. § 7521(a)(1). The CAA also contains a preemption provision at § 209(a):
42 U.S.C. § 7543(a).
No State or any political subdivision thereof shall adopt or attempt to
enforce any standard relating to the control of emissions from new motor
vehicles or new motor vehicle engines . . . No State shall require
certification, inspection, or any other approval relating to the control of
emissions from any new motor vehicle or new motor vehicle engine as
condition precedent to the initial retail sale, titling . . . or registration of
such motor vehicle, motor vehicle engine, or equipment.
While the CAA only relates to the regulation of vehicle and engine emissions, Plaintiffs
argue that the TLC 25/30 Rules—which govern fuel economy—are a de facto regulation of
emissions and that the purpose of the rules is to regulate emissions. (See Saylor Decl. Ex. A ¶¶
100-02.) The issue here is whether Plaintiffs have a likelihood of success in demonstrating that
TLC regulations imposing fuel economy standards are preempted by the CAA when the
regulations at issue do not mention or target emissions.
1. Relevant Case Law
A state or municipal law that clearly targets emissions in new vehicles is generally
preempted under the CAA. For instance, courts have held that § 209(a) preempts states from
requiring that a percentage of new vehicles certified for sale in that state be “zero emissions
vehicles” (“ZEVs”). See Am. Auto. Mfrs. Ass’n v. Cahill, 152 F.3d 196, 200 (2d Cir. 1998)
(finding that while the New York law did not “impose precise quantitative limits on levels of
emissions,” the ZEV sales requirement nevertheless “must be considered a standard ‘relating to
the control of emissions’” because the law had no purpose other than to effect a general
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