ATTORNEY GENERAL WRIGLEY JOINS 21-STATE COALITION CHALLENGING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RULE MANDATING THAT STATES SET TARGETS TO REDUCE ON-ROAD CO2 EMISSIONS

22 Dec ATTORNEY GENERAL WRIGLEY JOINS 21-STATE COALITION CHALLENGING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RULE MANDATING THAT STATES SET TARGETS TO REDUCE ON-ROAD CO2 EMISSIONS

December 22, 2023

_{CONTACT: Suzie Weigel, 701.328.2210 snweigel@nd.gov}

Bismarck, ND – Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley announced that North Dakota will be part of a 21-state coalition challenging a new Biden Administration rule from the Department of Transportation mandating that all States with National Highway System mileage establish targets to reduce on-road CO2 emissions. The lawsuit argues that Congress has not given the U.S. Department of Transportation the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and that the rule will unlawfully cause significant harm to the economies of the States and the pocketbooks of their residents—with the harm falling disproportionality harder on rural states, where residents on average must drive significantly more than in urban states.

“This rule is yet another effort by the Biden administration to unconstitutionally and unlawfully use federal administrative agencies to push a climate agenda where Congress has granted no authority to implement such actions,” said Attorney General Wrigley. “We will continue to push back against regulatory overreach by the Department of Transportation, and every other agency in the Federal government engaged in this sort of unlawful conduct.”

In the complaint filed today in the United States District Court in Kentucky, Attorney General Wrigley and the coalition of States assert that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) overstepped its legal authority. The coalition writes, “Congress has not given FHWA or DOT authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (“GHG”). Nor can the Agencies compel the States to administer a federal regulatory program or mandate them to further Executive policy wishes absent some other authority to do so—which is lacking as to this rule.”

Further, the attorneys general note that the FHWA previously issued a similar rule, which was repealed after the agency determined that the measure may duplicate “existing efforts in some States” and imposed “unnecessary burdens on State DOTs and MPOs [metropolitan planning organizations] that were not contemplated by Congress.”

The coalition is made up of attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming as Plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

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