By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Transportation Department said on Wednesday it plans to rescind a climate rule adopted by the administration of former President Joe Biden requiring states to measure and set declining targets for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles using the national highway system.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was tapped by President Donald Trump, approved a proposal to reverse the Biden rule after it had been blocked by a federal court saying it reflected a “commitment to unleashing American energy and eliminating unlawful regulatory burdens.”
Separately Duffy said Tuesday he was taking the first step to roll back stringent Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for passenger vehicles and heavy trucks issued under Biden.
Texas and 21 other states sued USDOT arguing the agency lacked legal authority to enact the rule in 2023.
The Biden administration rule did not mandate specific targets and gave state transportation departments flexibility to set appropriate targets that aimed to reduce emissions over time. The rule said it would assess progress but did not impose penalties for missing targets.
In 2018, the first Trump administration repealed a rule issued under then-President Barack Obama requiring states to track highway greenhouse gas emissions.
Last week, Trump took aim at electric vehicles, revoking a 2021 executive order signed by Biden that sought to ensure half of all new vehicles sold in the United States by 2030 were electric.
Trump also vowed to halt distribution of unspent government money for vehicle-charging stations from a $5 billion fund, called for ending a waiver for states to adopt zero-emission vehicle rules by 2035, and said his administration would consider ending EV tax credits.
The Biden USDOT said the rule was “essential” to its target of net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, but the final regulation did not require states to set declining targets to align with the 2050 goal.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates)
