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A Washington court has dismissed an attempt by two Republican legislators to prevent the state Ecology Department adopting California’s Zero-Emission Regulations without legislative approval.
Carol Murphy, the Thurston County Superior court judge, recently dismissed the lawsuit filed earlier this year by state senator Michael Padden and state representative Chris Corry against Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee and the state Department of Ecology, including its director Laura Watson in her official capacity.
Padden, an attorney who has been in the state Senate for the past three years, launched the legal action because he felt it was vital to protect the sovereignty of the state. He said that Washington’s elected lawmakers must make laws for Washington, and not Californian legislators.
Padden and Corry’s case was represented by the Citizen Action Defense Fund in Washington State, a nonprofit watchdog group that focuses on fighting against government overreach.
The adoption of California’s zero-emissions regulations by the state Department of Ecology was at issue. The suit claims that Washington residents were not given the opportunity to comment or participate in an hearing by the unelected state officials. The California Air Resources Board regulations adopted by the state aim to wind down sales of motor vehicles with combustion engines.
In her dismissal, Murphy found “beyond a doubt” that both legislators “could not prove any set of facts consistent with the complaint”, against state officials and Ecology Department. She also deemed the delegation of legislative power to the Ecology Department as “proper”.
“The undisputed evidence before the Court establishes Ecology’s compliance with the direction given by the Legislature. There is no separation of powers issue.” Murphy found that plaintiffs had not cited any authority to support a conclusion different from the one they reached. Murphy also said that this “cause is lawfully ineffective”. The Court finds no violation of Ecology’s procedures in adopting the zero emission vehicle rule.
Washington Trucking Associations (WTA) supported the lawsuit. WTA President Sheri Call expressed her disappointment at the court’s decision.
“We are grateful for the efforts of Senator Padden, Representative Corry and the Citizen Action Defense Fund. “Unfortunately, we didn’t achieve a positive result, but it was important to challenge the issue of ceding power to an unelected group in another state,” she said.
Jackson Maynard was also disappointed with the decision of the judge. “CADF is utterly opposed to the court’s decision and knows that we are correct on the law. Maynard said that the risks of appealing were too high, and counsel recommended against it.
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