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House File 376 referred to Environment after debate over Clean Cars Minnesota
Summary
The Transportation and Finance Policy Committee voted to refer Representative Murphy's House File 376, which would repeal Minnesota's adoption of California vehicle-emission standards (Clean Cars Minnesota), to the Environment Committee after proponents and opponents debated consumer choice, dealer impacts and air-quality goals.
The Transportation and Finance Policy Committee voted to refer House File 376 to the Environment Committee following a lengthy debate about Minnesotas Clean Cars rule. Representative Brian Murphy moved the measure.
The bill, introduced by Representative Murphy, would repeal the administrative rule known as Clean Cars Minnesota, which adopts California vehicle-emissions standards for model-year 2025 vehicles. Murphy said the repeal is necessary to restore legislative authority and consumer choice, and to avoid allowing another state to dictate Minnesota policy.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Assistant Commissioner Frank Kolasch testified in opposition to repeal. "Minnesota is already more than halfway through model year 2025," Kolasch said, adding that the rule provides compliance credits and that in 2024 qualifying zero-emission vehicles made up "approximately 6 to 7% of the new car sales in Minnesota," a level the rule anticipated. Kolasch cited agency reports showing transportation accounts for about 42% of the state's risk from air pollution and said the state has recently seen an uptick in ozone levels that requires continued reductions from vehicles.
Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association, testified in support of repeal and said dealers and consumers face practical problems from adopting the California standards. He told the committee the Minnesota rule "puts California bureaucrats in charge of what vehicles our dealers can sell," and said dealers have not received clear state guidance on enforcement or registration of out-of-state vehicles subject to California standards. Lambert warned that winter performance, charging infrastructure and dealer inventory burdens explain modest EV adoption levels in Minnesota.
Bentley Graves of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce told the committee the bill would correct a precedent in which rulemaking imported out-of-state regulatory standards without legislative approval.
Members debated regulatory authority, the practical effect of repealing a rule that applies only to model-year 2025 vehicles, and whether repeal would meaningfully change future adoption of vehicle-emission standards. Committee members also discussed consumer "range anxiety," dealer investments in EV infrastructure, and public-health evidence included with agency testimony and outside letters.
Representative Murphy renewed his motion to refer the bill; the committee approved it by voice vote. The bill will proceed to the Environment Committee.
Votes at a glance: House File 376 was referred to the Environment Committee by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in committee minutes.
