"Toyota Backs Down In Fight Against California Car Emission Rules"

"Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to recognize California’s authority to set its own auto emission standards, ending a standoff stretching back to the Trump administration.

The Japanese automaker, which once sued along with several other manufacturers to stop California from setting higher emissions standards than the federal government, said in a statement Tuesday that it has acknowledged in recent communications with the California Air Resources Board the agency’s “leadership in climate policies and its authority to set vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act.”

The statement is a reversal for a company that had joined peers, including General Motors Co., in a 2019 lawsuit challenging the state.

That litigation, filed by the Environmental Defense Fund, came after the Trump administration moved to roll back Obama-era mileage rules and revoke California’s right to set its own emissions standards, which had been allowed under the Clean Air Act since the 1970s."

Keith Laing reports for Bloomberg August 23, 2022.

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 08/24/2022