Virginia will abandon California's stringent vehicle emissions rules by the end of 2024, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday, citing an attorney general opinion.
If the change goes through, Virginia will continue to allow sales of new gas-powered cars, with no set end date -- unlike California and other states like Maryland, that have agreed to end all new gas car sales by 2035.
The move won't have any immediate effects on Virginians purchasing new cars, but it is a reversal of previous Virginia policy, and does mean the state overall would take a slower path toward lowering carbon emissions and increasing electric vehicle sales.
Here's what to know.
What emissions announcement did Youngkin make?
In response to a request from Republican Gov. Youngkin and Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle, Attorney General Jason Miyares' opinion, issued Tuesday, states that Virginia isn’t required to comply with new mandates adopted by the California Air Resources Board.
Those mandates, known as the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, are set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
Youngkin said in a statement on Wednesday that Virginians deserve to choose which vehicles fit their needs and called the idea that government should tell people what kind of car they can buy “fundamentally wrong."
“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.
Virginia Democrats and environmental groups face off with Republicans
Youngkin's move to abandon California's emissions standards was quickly condemned by Democrats and environmental groups.
The EPA gives states a choice to follow either federal standards or California standards -- but given that Virginia signed California emissions standards into its own law in 2021, some are calling the legality of the move into question.
“He seems to think he has more power than Vladimir Putin,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said to the Associated Press via text message. “The governor is breaking the law and the AG is giving him cover.”
The Southern Environmental Law Center called the decision “illegal, shortsighted, and bad public policy.”
“The Clean Cars standards will help spur the transition to cleaner vehicles and bring significant health and environmental benefits to all Virginians. That is why the General Assembly adopted them," Trip Pollard, a senior attorney with the center, said in a statement to the AP.
"The Governor tried to get the legislature to repeal the law and failed; he cannot just dictate a different outcome," Pollard said.
Miyares said in a statement that the opinion from his office confirms that Virginians are no longer required to follow California’s standards.
“EV mandates like California’s are unworkable and out of touch with reality, and thankfully the law does not bind us to their regulations,” he said. “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.”
In a memo to the Department of Environmental Quality, the State Air Pollution Control Board and stakeholders, Natural and Historic Resources Secretary Travis A. Voyles said Wednesday that Virginia will default to federal standards at the end of the year.
He said Miyares’ opinion confirms that state law doesn’t require the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt California’s new standards and the board has not acted under its discretionary authority to do so.
Why was Virginia following California emissions standards?
When the Clean Air Act was passed back in 1970, California -- the most populated state in the country, with unique geography, weather and pollution issues -- wanted to enforce stricter emissions standards than those set out by the federal government.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted California a waiver to do that. There are a few conditions, and California's rules must be approved by the federal government. However, California has set its own emission standards since 1967, when the Federal Air Quality Act was enacted, and that continued after the Clean Air Act.
Then, to limit the number of different emissions standards that car manufacturers would need to keep in mind, the EPA gave other states a choice. States could either choose to follow the federal standards regulating vehicle emissions, or they could follow California's stricter standards.
A number of states have chosen to follow California's emissions standards, initially known as the Clean Cars I rule. Maryland began enforcing those standards for 2011 model cars, and agreed to continue following those standards even after they were updated in 2022 (more on that below).
Virginia more recently passed a law that pledged to have Virginia cars follow California emissions standards.
That “clean cars” law was initially adopted in 2021, when the state government was under full Democratic control.
It required that, starting in 2024, a certain percentage of new passenger vehicles sold by manufacturers be electric or hybrid electric.
In 2023, Virginia Senate Democrats defeated several Republican efforts to repeal the law. And the reason for those repeal attempts has to do with a decision made in California two years ago.
What is the Advanced Clean Cars II rule?
When Virginia agreed to follow California emissions standards, California had less stringent requirements under the Clean Cars I rule. Then, in 2022, California's Air Resources Board updated its emissions standards.
The new standards require "all new passenger cars, trucks and SUVs sold in California" to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
The decision by the California Air Resources Board came two years after Gov. Gavin Newsom first directed regulators to consider such a policy, in an effort to lower carbon emissions faster and fight climate change.
The program applies to manufacturers, not car dealers. Manufacturers who aren’t in compliance can buy credits from others who have surpassed the targeted number of electric vehicles sales.
Essentially, the Advanced Clean Cars II plan would create yearly quotas for zero-emission vehicle sales, and require more of those sales each year, starting in 2026, until 100% of new vehicles sold are zero emission or plug-in hybrid electric in 2035.
The exact quotas by year may vary state-by-state, so long as the 100% by 2035 goal is met.
Here's how those quotas break down by year, according to California's plan, which was adopted with the same quotas by Maryland:
% of new vehicles that must be zero-emissions or plug-in hybrid electric under the Advanced Clean Cars II rule
- 35% in 2026
- 43% in 2027
- 51% in 2028
- 59% in 2029
- 68% in 2030
- 76% in 2031
- 82% in 2032
- 88% in 2033
- 94% in 2034
- 100% in 2035
Used cars can still be entirely gas powered. The regulation only affects new vehicles sold.
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Brumfield contributed to this report from Silver Spring, Maryland.
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This story has been corrected to show that Attorney General Jason Miyares’ opinion was issued Tuesday.
