Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Automotive Industries

Diesel's day in court: the verdict is in as Supreme Court strikes down South Coast diesel vehicle ban.

Article Excerpt
In what history may well mark as a landmark legal case in emissions regulations, as well as having a huge impact on the engine industry and the equipment it powers, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal clean air laws bar local regulations for the Los Angeles region that prohibit the purchase by fleet operators of new diesel-fueled vehicles.

The case in question was Engine Manufacturers Assn. Et Al v. South Coast Air Quality, Management District Et Al #02-1343). Oral arguments were held on January 14, with the court's 8-1 decision announced April 29.

The Supreme Court's ruling ended a nearly four-year legal battle that resulted from the California's South Coast Air Quality. Management District's (SCAQMD) Fleet Rules that required various public and private operators of fleets of 15 or more vehicles in the SCAQMD basin (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties) to purchase alternative-fuel vehicles or certain cleaner-fuel vehicles authorized under California's emissions standards program.

However, some vehicles certified for sale under California's program, including all diesel-powered vehicles, were not eligible for purchase under the Fleet Rules, unless there were no "cleaner" vehicles available for purchase.

The industry said the district's authority to do that was preempted by...