EDF Files Lawsuit to Get Records on Vital EPA, State Clean Vehicle Safeguards

(Washington D.C. – March 3, 2025) For the second time today, Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in federal district court to compel the Trump administration to release records that it has failed to release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 

Earlier today EDF filed a lawsuit to get information related to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s recommendation to strike down the Endangerment Finding. This new lawsuit seeks records that will inform the public about the administration’s actions regarding EPA and state clean vehicle standards, and about communications with industry lobbyists and others who are pressing to weaken these vital clear air protections.

“The Trump administration’s plans, as announced by executive order, would gut the bedrock national and state clean air standards that have been reducing air pollution and protecting communities across the country. They would also undermine investments, jobs and affordability for clean vehicles,” said Alice Henderson, Director and Lead Counsel for Transportation and Clean Air at EDF. “The public has a right to know what the Trump administration is doing and why they are pursuing this harmful agenda. We are going to court to ensure they do.”

On his first day in office, President Trump issued executive orders attacking the nation’s air pollution standards for cars and trucks, California’s Clean Air Act legal authority to set its own vehicle emission standards, and other clean transportation policies that support hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs and help make clean vehicles an affordable choice for those who want to buy them. 

EDF filed a FOIA request seeking information related to the Trump administration’s actions to undermine these vital protections, and who is influencing those actions, but has not received the required determination or records in the statutory time. The lawsuit, filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to compel disclosure of the requested records in order to provide vital transparency about the administration’s plans.