We had hoped we were done reporting about the California waiver (i.e., California’s request for EPA permission to implement a strict set of auto emission standards), ever since the Obama Administration struck a deal last spring with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and financially-beleaguered automakers to just go ahead and adopt California’s proposed standards nationally.

Apparently, however, we’re not done discussing the waiver after all, thanks to our friends in the auto industry.  In fact, the move to bring California’s standards fully into effect nationally (and continue on the path toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles in this country) underwent two significant developments today.

First, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency formally put forth their proposed national program to reduce global warming gases from automobiles, in accordance with the agreement reached with California and automakers in May. According to the joint press release from the two agencies:

Under the proposed program, which covers model years 2012 through 2016, automobile manufacturers would be able to build a single, light-duty national fleet that satisfies all federal requirements as well as the standards of California and other states. The proposed program includes miles per gallon requirements under NHTSA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) program and the first-ever national emissions standards under EPA’s greenhouse gas program. The collaboration of federal agencies for this proposal also allows for clearer rules for all automakers, instead of three standards (DOT, EPA, and a state standard).

The newly proposed standards will enter a 60-day public comment period as soon as this announcement is published in the Federal Register.

Second, we learned that on Sept. 8, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) filed a petition for review in the federal court of appeals in DC, challenging the EPA’s decision to formally grant California its long sought-after waiver to implement its auto emission standards. As we explained here, by the time the waiver was granted in July, it was a largely symbolic gesture, since the standards are going to be adopted nationwide. But EPA’s decision to grant the waiver – and thereby reverse the Bush Administration’s denial of the waiver – is still worth celebrating and fighting over, as the Chamber’s law suit confirms. By rejecting the unjustifiable obstacles the Bush Administration imposed upon California, the Obama Administration is restoring California to its historic role as a pioneer of auto emissions standards, which should make future Clean Air Act waivers easier for California to obtain. Just as important, the California standards now can serve as a fallback in the unlikely event the DOT and EPA fail to fully implement the stricter standards nationwide. (We should have more information about the arguments the Chamber and NADA are putting forward in their challenge once briefing starts.)

So what does this mean? Well, once the standards the DOT and EPA put forward today get finalized, we fully expect that they’ll be challenged by the auto industry. (For those wondering, the Obama-CARB-automaker deal in May included an agreement from automakers to drop all their preemption suits against states. As we’ve noted, however, auto dealers were apparently not included in the May agreement, which would explain why it’s the National Automobile Dealers Association that has filed this latest challenge.) Assuming national standards are challenged, industry would then be resisting the implementation of strict auto standards aimed at combating global warming on two fronts – in California, and at the federal level.

Stay tuned to Warming Law for updates on both developments – the proposal of new national auto emission standards, and industry’s challenge to the EPA waiver decision.