Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that his state will not follow California’s mandate to transition to zero-emissions vehicles by 2035. The state’s attorney general issued an opinion on June 4, 2024 that Virginia is not required to comply with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandate, which takes effect in 2025. Virginia currently follows California emissions standards but will follow federal standards in 2025.
The Clean Air Act allows California to set its own emissions standards that exceed federal standards. Other states can then adopt the California standards. In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the state’s Air Board to adopt California’s “Advanced Clean Cars I” regulation.
In 2022, CARB approved its Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations, which require the phase-out of the sale of new gasoline-fueled or diesel-fueled passenger cars and trucks by 2035. The new regulation takes effect in 2025 and requires zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) sales to be at least 35% of car sales by 2026 and 100% of car sales by 2035. ZEVs include battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. (All New Cars Sold in California Must be ZEVs by 2035.)
Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an opinion stating that the Virginia law does not require state to follow Advanced Clean Cars II. The opinion notes that the Virginia Air Board adopted Advanced Clean Cars I, which ends at the end of 2024, but it has not adopted Advanced Clean Cars II. Youngkin and Republican legislators earlier tried and failed to repeal the law.
“Today, I’ve issued an official Attorney General Opinion that confirms that Virginians are no longer legally bound to follow the emission standards of California,” Attorney General Jason Miyares said. “EV mandates like California’s are unworkable and out of touch with reality, and thankfully the law does not bind us to their regulations. California does not control which cars Virginians buy and any thoughts that automobile manufacturers should face millions of dollars in civil penalties rather than allowing our citizens to choose their own vehicles is completely absurd.”
“Virginia’s laws should not be determined by California politicians,” said Senator Ryan McDougle. “Instead, our laws should be decided by Virginians who are elected to serve Virginia and address issues that face our Commonwealth, not a state nearly 3,000 miles away.”
The rejection of the California standards comes amid growing pushback against California laws that have extraterritorial effect. Business groups have challenged new California laws that require companies to report greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and climate risks, arguing that the Clean Air Act preempts California’s “de facto regulations of greenhouse-gas emissions nationwide.” (Business Groups Challenge California Climate Reporting Law on Constitutional Grounds.)