ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20096
No(s). 16-1447 (D.C. Cir. Aug 12, 2022)

The D.C. Circuit dismissed for lack of standing a petition to review a 2016 EPA rule concerning greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty engines and vehicles. A coalition representing businesses that make and sell aftermarket car products challenged the rule's seven amendments regarding the competition exemption for nonroad engines and equipment, its update to the regulatory definition of "motor vehicle," and an aside in the rule's preamble stating that the proposed-but-not-promulgated provisions about tampering with emissions systems were "not intended to represent a change in the law or in EPA's policies or practices towards dedicated competition vehicles." The court determined the amendments to the competition exemption had no effect on the rights and responsibilities of coalition members because they were merely cosmetic, that the coalition's declaration failed to show that the member was injured by the Agency's definitional update, and that the preamble language did not have sufficiently concrete legal consequences to constitute a final agency action.