Engine Manufacturers Association v. South Coast Air Quality Management District 

Are regulations by the South Coast Air Quality Management District preempted by the federal Clean Air Act? Yes: Decided April 28

Los Angeles, town of many emissions, requires operators of bus, truck and airport shuttles to buy environmentally friendly vehicles when they add something new to their fleets. These "fleet rules" impose high costs, irking many folks doing business. The Engine Manufacturers Association and the Western States Petroleum Association, along with some of their important friends (including the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, the American Trucking Association, and the United States Chamber of Commerce) argued that these rules clash with the federal Clean Air Act and should thereby be preempted. The Supremes, in a 8-1 vote, agreed.

Writing for the Court, Justice Scalia rejected any distinction between local purchase requirements and requirements for  manufacture or sale--a nifty distinction encouraged by the District. (The CAA prohibits the adoption of local "standards" which, the District maintained, is not at all like local purchase regulations.)  "A standard is a standard," Scalia writes, in his best indomitable style, "even when (it's) not enforced through manufacturer-directed regulation." Case closed, and hooray for clearly justified preemption. Not at all convincing, but worth savoring all the same: Justice Souter's paean to federalism in dissenting opinion. You know your states' rights argument's in bad shape when you can't even convince Justice Stevens.  

Case here

Brief for the United States here

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