From left: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Courtesy photos

The District of Columbia and 23 states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, have sued the Trump administration, alleging that its proposed Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles rule, or SAFE, is misguided.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, challenges the proposed rule, and attorneys general from nearly two dozen states say it should not take effect as written.

The lawsuit was filed as a "petition for review," which are filed in courts to review federal agency orders or actions. The petition doesn't state specific claims, but rather asks for the proposed rule to be reviewed.

Elizabeth Benton, spokeswoman for one of the filers, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, said "there will be a more substantive brief filed, once the briefing schedule is set by the court."

Defendants in the lawsuit are the U.S federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Traffic Safety Administration, which is part of the DOT.

The EPA, on its website, said the proposal would amend some existing corporate average fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks, and would establish new standards for vehicles in the model years from 2021 through 2026. It also said the rule would benefit all consumers.

The EPA said that, in enacting the new rule, there would be a $252.6 billion reduction in regulatory costs through model year 2029. It said the proposal would lead to 1 million additional new vehicle sales, creating jobs, through model year 2029, and result in about 0.5 million barrels per day increase in fuel consumption. It said the plan would have "no noticeable impact to net emissions of smog-forming or other … toxic air pollutants."

But the attorneys general disagree, saying the rule would affect public health in a negative way.

"The underpinning for the Trump Administration's so-called 'SAFE' rule are crumbling before the rule even hits the road," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. "The administration claims their new rule will save money and lives, but previously undisclosed internal documents reveal how far from the truth that is. Just read the text of the rule and you will discover that it is a job killer and public health hazard. It will increase the costs to consumers and will allow the emission of dangerous pollutants that directly threaten the health of our families."

Becerra claims, in a press release, the "EPA and NHTSA improperly and unlawfully relied on analysis riddled with errors, omissions and unfounded assumptions in an attempt to justify their desired result."

And Tong said in a statement Wednesday: "No one wants dirty and inefficient vehicles, not consumers and not automakers. The Trump administration has ignored basic federal environmental laws and administrative procedures in a knee-jerk rush to roll back regulations. This rule will have disastrous implications for our climate for decades to come."

But in a statement Wednesday, the EPA said that, although it does not comment on pending litigation, "as finalized, the SAFE provides a sensible, single national program that strikes the right regulatory balance, protects our environment, and sets reasonable targets for the auto industry, while supporting our economy and the safety of American families."

Similarly in a statement, the NHTSA said, in part: "The Safe Vehicles final rule marked the culmination of over a year of close collaboration between EPA and NHTSA, just as the agencies collaborated in prior joint rulemakings in this and the previous administration."

No one from the federal DOT responded to a request for comment.

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