The Biden administration granted California permission Tuesday to enforce its rule requiring new ferries to be zero-emission boats by the end of the year.
The approval comes less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to dismantle California’s electric vehicle policies, takes office.
It grants an extra layer of protection from an administration that’s hostile to climate regulations, even though the Trump administration can still try to revoke the waiver, as it attempted in 2019 with the state’s waiver for its clean car rules.
The waiver granted Tuesday allows the California Air Resources Board to enforce updates to its commercial harbor craft regulation that it approved in 2022. The rule covers harbor boats like ferries, research vessels, sportfishing boats, barges and tugboats.
