President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Tupelo Regional Airport, November 26, 2018 in Tupelo, Mississippi.Drew Angerer / Getty Images The Trump administration has launched a multi-pronged legal assault on an agreement California struck with four carmakers in defiance of the presidents plan to ease national standards on tailpipe emissions.Lawyers from the Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency on Friday sent a letter to Californias top air-pollution regulator, urging the state to abandon its pact with the automakers and warning that actions to carry out the agreement appear to be unlawful and invalid.Separately, the Justice Department has opened an antitrust probe into the deal, in which four automakers agreed on compromise tailpipe emissions requirements with California. The administration is also preparing to formally strip Californias authority to set auto efficiency regulations that are tougher than the federal governments, according to people familiar with the matter.The actions amount to a significant escalation of the conflict between the Trump administration and Sacramento over environmental protections. It comes as automakers have urged the administration to moderate its rollback of emissions levels, arguing that a battle with California over the states regulatory powers would leave the industry with uncertainty over the critical standards for years.Automakers want to avoid splitting the market with two different standards a federal mileage requirement in most states versus more stringent rules in more than a dozen states that adhere to Californias standards and account for more than a third of U.S. auto sales.After talks with California and the Trump administration faltered, the California Air Resources Board announced in July an accord with the Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen on tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions regulations.The carmakers had agreed with Californias clean-air regulator to boost the fuel efficiency of autos sold in the U.S through 2026, defying a Trump administration proposal to ease mileage requirements enacted during the Obama administration.Ford and Honda said they would cooperate with the Justice Department, while VW said it was in regular contact with U.S. authorities on a number of matters. BMW of North America said it looked forward to responding to the Department of Justice to explain the planned CARB framework agreement and its benefits to consumers and the environment.In one of the letters seen by Bloomberg, the Justice Department wrote it was concerned that the California agreement may violate federal antitrust laws, noting that the department hadnt reached any conclusions on the matter. The department proposed a meeting to gather additional information about the emissions agreement and communications between the companies about the pact.In the letter sent to CARB on Friday, lawyers for the EPA and DOT said that Californias plans overstep the states authority by intruding on the federal governments power to set fuel economy and tailpipe emission standards.We recognize Californias disagreements with the federal governments policy proposals in this area, but those policy disagreements cannot justify CARBs pursuit of a regulatory approach that would violate federal law, they said.California officials insisted they wouldnt be cowed. California stands up to bullies and will keep fighting for stronger clean car protections that protect the health and safety of our children and families, Governor Gavin Newsom said in an emailed
Origin: Anti-trust probe opened into automakers that sided with California over Trump