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ARTICLE · 28 APRIL 2021

The SAFE Rule Is On The Way Out — I Don't Feel Any Less Safe

Foley Hoag LLP
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Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed to withdraw Part I of the Trump Administration's SAFE Rule, in which EPA had concluded that California's regulation...

United StatesEnvironment
Seth Jaffe
Seth Jaffe
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Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed to withdraw Part I of the Trump Administration's SAFE Rule, in which EPA had concluded that California's regulation of motor vehicle GHG emissions was preempted the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. It's not a surprise, given that Executive Order 13990 specifically directed NHTSA to revisit the SAFE I Rule. 

It is interesting, if not ironic, that the proposed rule takes a page from the conservative anti-Chevron playbook. It does not propose to revise the rule to provide that state rules are not preempted. Instead, NHTSA proposes simply to withdraw the Trump Safe I rule, in order to "restore a clean slate for the Agency's position on EPCA preemption." In short:

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