Colorado Automobile Dealers Association v. Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment

A Colorado District Court ruled that a non-profit association representing Colorado automobile dealers did not have standing to challenge Colorado’s low emission automobile regulations, which require that automobile manufacturers build and certify light- and medium-duty vehicles sold in Colorado that comply with California vehicle emissions standards beginning with 2022 model year vehicles. The court concluded that the alleged economic impact on dealers did not constitute an injury-in-fact sufficient to confer standing and, moreover, that the claimed harm was not to a legally protected interest. The court therefore granted the state defendants’ motion to dismiss.

A not-for-profit association representing new car and truck dealers filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s adoption of California’s low emission vehicle emission standards (LEV III) for light-duty passenger vehicles and trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles. The plaintiff asserted that the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission failed to complete emission control studies that were statutory prerequisites for motor vehicle emission control regulations and aftermarket catalytic converter standards. The plaintiff also alleged that the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division had failed to adequately consider the costs of the regulation in violation of the Colorado Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act (APPCA) and the Colorado Administrative Procedure Act. In addition, the plaintiff asserted a failure to provide adequate time for review and comment of a revised economic impact analysis and also alleged that the Commission relied on “materialy and stautorily flawed” documents as the justification for the regulations. The plaintiff also said the Colorado governor’s executive order directing the California Department of Health and Environment to adopt California’s LEV III standards violated the separation of powers and that the Commission’s “rigid adherence” to the order violated the Colorado Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act.