Challenge to EPA’s fuel economy rollback can move ahead, court says

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Earlier this week, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that it wouldn’t immediately dismiss a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that was brought by a handful of states and green groups over the EPA’s vehicle fuel economy rollback.

In April, the EPA’s former Administrator Scott Pruitt made a “final determination” to revise fuel economy rules that had been negotiated by the Obama Administration and automakers. A few months later, Pruitt resigned amid controversy about his spending habits, but the EPA’s Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler moved ahead with the rule reversal. Wheeler in August proposed freezing the progressively-more-stringent fuel economy standards.

But Wheeler’s proposed rule hasn’t been made final yet, so opponents can’t sue, according to The Hill. Instead, states led by California and green groups like the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have sued over the EPA’s April “final determination.”