EMA
On June 9, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted EMA’s motion to intervene in American Public Health Association, et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), in support of EPA’s repeal of its so-called “Endangerment Finding.” The Endangerment Finding (made in 2010) represented EPA’s judgment at the time that carbon dioxide emissions endanger the public health and welfare, and it stood for many years as the foundation for all EPA rules governing greenhouse gas emissions. EPA repealed the Endangerment Finding, effective April 20, 2026, and with it, the rules mandating rapid and widespread electrification of the transportation sector. This includes the rules governing greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars and light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks. A group of petitioners, however, are now challenging the repeal in an effort to reinstate the preexisting tailpipe emissions standards.
EMA intervened in the case to support the findings made by EPA to repeal the Endangerment Finding, that: (i) greenhouse gases do not endanger public health or welfare through local or regional exposure and; and (ii) under the “major questions doctrine,” EPA’s electrification mandates raise questions of major economic and political significance that can be resolved only by Congress through a grant of clear legislative authority, which it did not give to EPA. How the Court decides these issues will determine the fate of electric vehicle mandates and the impact they would have on demand for liquid fuels and the businesses of EMA members. It is highly likely that the Court’s final decision will make its way to the Supreme Court for ultimate resolution.
