AGO opposes unconstitutional California laws

May 22, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined the challenge to the state of California Advanced clean fleets regulation in Nebraska v. Cliff, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. The application asks the Court to “find this Advanced clean fleets is reserved by federal statutes, otherwise violates the United States Constitution and is unenforceable.”

Advanced clean fleets originates from a 2000 executive order issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who issued an edict to “accelerate… actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change” and “accelerate the transition to a carbon neutral future.” Newsom directed the California Air Resources Board to create and enforce regulations in accordance with the draft Executive Orders. The rule, which was finalized on October 1, 2023, regulates truck manufacturers and operators and owners of truck fleets, seeking to ban the use of internal combustion engines in these vehicles to minimize emissions.

The attorneys general say so in their complaint Advanced clean fleets is illegal because it violates Art Clean Air Act, Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994and the dormant commerce clause of the US Constitution. They also claim that California’s governments “harm the sovereign, quasi-sovereign, legislative and property interests of (their) states.”

The coalition writes: “By taking advantage of California’s large population and access to international ports…, Advanced Clean Fleets is exporting its ‘intrastate’ ban across the country, causing harm that will surely impact plaintiff states.” The regulation forces truck drivers entering and leaving California to phase out their combustion trucks if they want to come to California. This will inevitably disrupt the supply chain for all kinds of goods, slow interstate transportation, raise commodity prices across the country, and impose costs on taxpayers and governments across the country.

Utah and Nebraska were joined in the legal filing by the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the Arizona State Legislature and the Nebraska Trucking Association.

Read the complaint here.