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Good News from the Summer Board Meeting

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We had a rather full agenda at our Summer Board Meeting in Sacramento, as it was again dominated by CARB regulation issues and a host of legal theories involving legal actions and as usual our attempts to decipher CARB’s regulatory chaos. One theme that was common through the discussions was just how screwed-up and confusing the regulations are. Regardless of whether you are now for them or still against them – they are a mess!

Sean of CleanFleets on page 30 tries to explain what we think is going to happen, we are still only guessing because we really are not sure what the final regulations will look like. The 15-day Proposed Rule Changes will be out soon and once they are released (probably July 3rd) we will have more details to share with you.

As far as our lawsuit(s), CCTA (CDTOA) v. CARB & EPA – The CCTA appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Morrison England’s ruling is still pending in the Ninth Circuit Court. Briefing on that case was completed in August, 2013, so it has been pending for about 11 months. This is not particularly unusual; according to our counsel who has seen cases pending for close to two years. In one recent F4A case they handled for the towing industry, the case was in the Ninth Circuit for 18 months before an opinion was issued. In any event, there are no statutes or rules governing the time in which the court must decide a case.

The next step will be for the court to schedule oral arguments. The original complaint was filed February of 2011. On July 7, Brooks’ offfice filed a letter with the court asking it to provide us with a timely decision.

CARB is a defendant in at least 16 lawsuits, here are some additional cases of interest:

  1. Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Inc. et al. v. Richard W. Corey et al., U.S. District Court, (E.D. Cal. Fresno) Case No. 1:13-CV-01998-LJO-SAB (transferred by court to E.D.Cal. Sacramento, Case No. 2:14-CV-00186-MCE-AC). According to the court’s website, the OOIDA case has been taken off calendar and submitted without oral argument. Our counsel confirmed that on June 22, Judge England (our judge) issued an order identical to one he issued to CCTA 11 months ago, submitting the matter without oral argument and cancelling the hearing.
  2. Alliance for California Business v. Nichols et al., Glenn County Superior Court, Case No. 13CV01232. This group is exposing the many problems associated with DPF retrofits on older trucks.
  3. John R. Lawson Rock & Oil, Inc. et al. v. California Air Resources Board et al., Fresno Superior Court, Case No. 14-CECG01494. If you bought new equipment and/or DPFs and feel injured by CARBs recent regulatory changes, you may want to call this plaintiff out of Fresno and see how you can join the lawsuit.
  4. Coordination Redding Group – This group is utilizing clear procedural deficiencies by CARB and local air district when creating burdensome regulations. The group will be forcing regulators to get back to the table and coordinate reasonable laws through a local coordination process with the input and approval of local businesses and voters. There is tremendous potential in utilizing “coordination” to stop over-regulation in this state and around the country.