John R. Lawson Rock & Oil, Inc. v. California Air Resources Board

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California’s Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when it promulgated revised truck and bus regulations that extended compliance deadlines for small fleet operators. The truck and bus regulations are intended to reduce emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and greenhouse gases from large diesel engines. The appellate court concluded that CARB violated CEQA by approving the project before it had completed its environmental analysis and by failing to consider the petitioners’ “fair argument” that emissions would increase compared to emissions under the existing regulations and that the increases could be significant. The court also affirmed the trial court’s determination that CARB’s conduct violated the APA. The appellate court did not agree, however, with the trial court’s conclusion that CARB used an inappropriate baseline; the appellate court stated that CARB “was within its discretion to adopt a baseline calculation that measured the current environment without further reducing figures based on regulations that should have taken effect during the course of the analysis.”

A California Superior Court ruled in favor of the challengers to amendments adopted in 2014 to the 2010 emissions standards for on-road heavy duty diesel vehicles. The amendments allowed small fleets of trucks and low-use vehicles extra time to come into compliance with the standards. The court held that CARB had engaged in post hoc environmental review by approving the amendments before it finished its CEQA review. The court also found that there was substantial evidence supporting a fair argument that the amendments would have a significant effect on the environment, including on criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. The court said that CARB used an improper baseline when it used existing environmental conditions and ignored the 2010 regulations.