After Environmental Groups and States Sue, EPA Reverses Course and Withdraws Illegal Suspension of Rule Regulating Super-Polluting Trucks

SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued the following statement after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler reversed course and withdrew a directive not to enforce the Glider Rule. The Glider Rule mandates that most engines installed in “gliders” – new heavy-duty freight truck bodies outfitted with refurbished or rebuilt pre-2010 highly-polluting diesel engines – meet the same emissions standards applicable to all newly manufactured engines. 

“Acknowledging our lawsuit, Acting Administrator Wheeler has rightly rescinded Scott Pruitt’s parting gift to special interest polluters,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Former Administrator Pruitt’s decision to suspend this critical rule could have led to the premature death of up to 1600 Americans. Today, we can celebrate a victory for our people, our health and our environment. We will remain vigilant and continue doing everything in our power to hold the EPA accountable.”

On July 6, 2018, on his last day in office, former EPA Administrator Pruitt committed the EPA to take no action to enforce the Glider Rule’s annual manufacturing cap of 300 gliders per company. This cap is meant to protect our air from the excessive smog-forming and particulate-matter pollution emitted by outdated engines. The expected impact of the cap’s suspension was clear, as the EPA itself has estimated that adding 10,000 gliders with non-compliant engines onto our roads in a single year could result in 415,000 tons of additional nitrogen oxide emissions and 6,800 tons of additional particulate matter emissions over the lifetime of those trucks. Such levels of pollution endanger the health and, indeed, the life of many Americans.  

On July 13, 2018, Attorney General Becerra demanded from the EPA an immediate withdrawal of its directive suspending enforcement of the Glider Rule. Because the EPA failed to act, Attorney General Becerra led a coalition of 16 Attorneys General in filing a lawsuit on July 19, asking the court to promptly overturn the EPA’s decision or halt the decision’s effect until the court could rule on the merits of the lawsuit. The Environmental Defense Fund, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club filed a separate lawsuit against the EPA on this matter. On July 18, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of these environmental groups and granted an administrative stay, which meant that the directive issued by former EPA Administrator Pruitt on his final day in office was temporarily blocked.

Acting Administrator Wheeler's decision to withdraw the illegal suspension of the Glider Rule marks the 13th environmental victory against the Trump Administration for the California Department of Justice.