California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition v. State Air Resources Board

The California Court of Appeal rejected the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition’s claims that the California Air Resource Board (CARB) did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when it promulgated the Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation, which focused on a transition to electric vehicles. The Coalition argued that CARB failed to properly consider a low-NOx vehicle credit option as an alternative to the Regulation or as a mitigation measure under CEQA. Under the APA, the Coalition also argued that CARB should have considered the low-NOx vehicle credit as an alternative as well as that CARB failed to consider the Regulation’s impacts on businesses that had invested in the low-NOx industry. CARB’s analysis noted that low-NOx engines did not achieve greenhouse gas emissions and would not advance California’s long-term transportation strategy.