On Friday, January 31, the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association (PMTA) and several of its members filed an amended complaint in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court in the Peters Brothers, Inc., et.al. v. DEP et. al. lawsuit, which challenges Pennsylvania’s rolling incorporation of California’s regulatory standards for heavy diesel engines.

This issue affects every trucking company because the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) ever-more stringent standards make it more difficult to maintain and upgrade their fleets. With the help of Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), PMTA argues that it was unconstitutional for Pennsylvania state regulators to blindly bind Pennsylvania to future changes in California law without independent review.

After a hearing in early June, an en banc panel ruled 4-3 last fall that the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act’s bar on “pre-enforcement challenges” prohibits any lawsuit challenging the legality of these new California standards. According to the Commonwealth Court, no one can raise legal objections unless they violate applicable regulations and wait to be sued. Accordingly, PMTA’s amended complaint alleges that this bar on “pre-enforcement” lawsuits violates the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As PLF attorney Luke Wake explains: “No one should have to violate the law in order to have their day in Court.”

For more details on Peters Brothers v. DEP, read “The Inviolate Right to be Heard” by Luke Wake and Kerry Hunt.