SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A coalition of states is suing the Trump administration for the second time to block a planned reduction in penalties automakers pay when they fail to meet fuel economy standards.
Twelve states and Washington, D.C., sued the administration Friday for replacing an Obama-era regulation that imposed a penalty of $14 for every tenth of a mile-per-gallon that an automaker falls below the standards.
The new rule would keep the penalty at $5.50, where it has been since the mid-1970s.
The legal challenge led by California and New York argues that maintaining the same penalty would keep it far below the inflation-adjusted rate required by a 2015 law.
The states sued in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, which last year said the administration could not delay the increase.
Administration officials did not immediately comment.
