“Once again, Virginia is declaring independence — this time from a misguided electric vehicle mandate imposed by unelected leaders nearly 3,000 miles away from the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said in a news release.
Democrats accused him of overstepping his authority. “The governor seems to think we live in a dictatorship where only he decides what the law is,” state Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) said via text message, calling the action “destructive of Virginia’s pro-business reputation.”
This marks at least the second time Youngkin has circumvented environmental standards passed by Democratic majorities in the legislature. Last year, he ordered the state Air Pollution Control Board to exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, a multistate compact in which energy producers trade carbon emissions credits.
That move is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of an environmental group, arguing that the governor has no power to undo a law passed by the legislature.
California standards require zero-emission vehicles to make up at least 22 percent of new vehicle sales by the end of next year or manufacturers must pay a penalty. Those standards are set to get even stricter, requiring all new vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2035. Federal standards, by contrast, do not require phasing out sales of gas-powered vehicles and envision a slower transition to electric vehicles or other alternatives.
The California auto emissions standards were part of a package of environmental laws adopted by the Virginia General Assembly in 2021, when Democrats controlled both the Senate and House of Delegates. Under federal law, states must comply with auto emissions standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, but California is allowed to adopt stricter standards and states may choose to adhere to those instead.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have adopted California standards, and automakers often build to those specifications because adherents represent a major part of the vehicle market.
Youngkin has routinely blasted Virginia’s participation, saying the state should not let another government set its standards. Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle (R-Hanover) joined the governor in asking Miyares for an opinion on whether the General Assembly’s action required the state to participate, and Miyares found this week that the legislation did not create a mandate.
The law says state regulators “may” participate in California standards, Miyares wrote. “The General Assembly knows how to express its intention and easily could have directed the Board to adopt standards identical to California’s,” he wrote.
In addition, Miyares noted that California’s air board recently adopted a new, even stricter version of the emissions standards, set to take effect next year. Because the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board adopted California standards that expire at the end of 2024, he said, the board would have to act again to adopt the new regime.
Virginia Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Travis A. Voyle sent a letter this week to the air board informing its members that there will be no such action. “Therefore, beginning in calendar year 2025, [the new California standards] will not be applicable in Virginia and car manufacturers will be free to sell new vehicles under current federal regulations,” Voyles wrote.