UPDATE 1-Calif., other states challenge US on car emissions
(Updates with details and background)
WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - California and 15 other U.S. states on Tuesday sought to overturn a Bush administration decision in December that denied California's attempt to set tough new standards for auto emissions.
The legal challenge, which was widely expected, returns the matter to the courts where states have had some success recently in the long-running fight to force the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) hand in the fight against global warming.
"The EPA has done nothing at the national level to curb greenhouse gases and now it has wrongfully and illegally blocked California's landmark tailpipe emissions standards, despite the fact that sixteen states have moved to adopt them," said Jerry Brown, California's attorney general.
California filed the suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. The California suit was joined in a separate motion by New York, Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.
On Dec. 19, the EPA rejected California's bid for a waiver from U.S. law that would allow it to impose emissions restrictions that are tougher than federal standards. Under the Clean Air Act, California has for years been permitted to establish its own regulations on carbon emissions.
Auto companies have fought the California waiver, arguing that the federal government should continue to oversee fuel standards. The California law, if imposed, could substantially increase costs for carmakers.
(Reporting by John Crawley; Editing by Bill Trott)
((Reuters Messaging; john.crawley.reuters.com@reuters.net +1 202 898 8340)) Keywords: CLIMATE AUTOS/LAWSUIT
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