SEMA has expressed its appreciation of the Supreme Court of the United States for granting a writ of certiorari for a critical question in the case of “Diamond Alternative Energy LLC v. EPA,” which SEMA requested earlier this year via an amicus brief. In granting the writ, the court agreed to decide the important question of whether some business interests and trade organizations, including members of the automotive aftermarket, have standing to make a legal claim that California’s Clean Air Act waiver allows the state to set rules that reduce demand for their products.
The court agreed to hear an appeal of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit holding that the plaintiffs did not have a legal right to challenge the waiver.
Specifically, the case stems from a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel’s prior dismissal of a challenge to electric vehicle (EV) mandates on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing. To sue in federal courts, there needs to be a concrete injury because of a defendant’s actions. If the Supreme Court rules that the plaintiffs have standing, the D.C. Circuit would have to address the merits (i.e., whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can let California regulate automotive carbon dioxide emissions). This is a fortuitous question, given President Joe Biden’s anticipated extension of California’s waiver through 2035.
The court declined to hear a challenge to the legality of the waiver itself.
SEMA’s amicus brief, filed in August, argued that California’s non-technology-neutral regulation that limits sales of internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicles will have a devastating impact on the automotive aftermarket, effectively killing, rather than fostering innovation that can help produce cleaner, safer automobiles.
“SEMA is pleased that the nation’s highest court acknowledges the significant public interest in the question raised in Diamond Alternative Energy LLC v. EPA: that California is wrong to pursue internal combustion engine bans, and that lower courts who have affirmed the state’s ability to do so in fact ruled in error,” said SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola. “SEMA looks forward to the Supreme Court’s full review of this matter and is confident that justice will prevail on behalf of American innovation and ingenuity.”
As an organization, SEMA champions a technology-neutral approach that fosters innovation and ingenuity and will continue its efforts to preserve Americans’ rights to vehicle choice and the automotive aftermarket industry’s ability to design, manufacture and bring to market products that help solve the carbon emissions challenge.
This story was originally published on December 18, 2024. 
