ELR Citation: ELR 20311
No(s). 92-CV-869 (N.D.N.Y. Jul 13, 1993)

The court modifies a prior judgment at 23 ELR 20879 that New York's adoption of California vehicle emission standards for model year 1995 vehicles without regulation of fuel content violates the "undue burdens" and "third-vehicle" prohibitions and the two-year leadtime requirement under Clean Air Act (CAA) §177. The court first holds that the defendants' motion for reconsideration was timely filed under both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59(e) and New York Local Rule 10(m). The court grants the motion for reconsideration, because the defendants properly identified matters they believe the court overlooked and why such matters would render the prior decision erroneous. The court holds that it erred in granting summary judgment to the plaintiff automobile manufacturers on the issue of whether New York's Part 218 Regulations, which did not include restrictions on the content of fuels sold in New York, violated the undue burdens and third-vehicle prohibitions of §177. Although there is no question that New York's unregulated fuels will have some effect on the emission control systems of vehicles manufactured under California standards, there is a genuine issue of material fact as to the degree and nature of that effect. The court erred in failing to consider that issue, which controls the question of whether New York's requirements violate §177's third-vehicle prohibition.

The court holds that it will not reconsider its holding that New York failed to comply with §177's two-year leadtime requirement when it adopted the Part 218 Regulations. The court holds that the issue of whether CAA's two-year leadtime requirement precludes a §177 state from adopting California standards for the 1996 model year is not properly presented and would not have materially altered the court's prior decision. The court then affirms its holding that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) violated the leadtime requirement with regard to some 1995 model year vehicles. Since the DEC adopted the 1995 model year standards on May 28, 1992, it satisfied the two-year leadtime requirement only as to those manufacturers who will not begin production of 1995 vehicles until after May 28, 1994, but the standards are unenforceable against manufacturers who commence production of 1995 vehicles prior to that date. The court also refuses to consider "splitting" the model year between same manufacturer 1995 models produced before and after May 28, 1994, because the issue is not properly presented. The court affirms its ruling that New York's zero emission vehicle sales mandate violates §177's prohibition on indirect sales limits, because defendants failed to identify matters that were previously overlooked and that would have materially altered the court's original decision.

[The court's prior decision is published at 23 ELR 20879.]

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Daniel F. Attridge
Kirkland & Ellis
655 15th St. NW, Ste. 1200, Washington DC 20005
(202) 879-5000

Counsel for Defendants
Joan Leary Matthews, Ass't Attorney General
Attorney General's Office
New York State Department of Law
The Capitol, Albany NY 12224
(518) 474-7124