[JURIST] Ten states sued the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [official website] on Tuesday over new fuel economy standards the agency adopted in March [JURIST report]. The states, led by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer [official profile], are arguing that the new standards for 2008-2011 under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy system [backgrounder] were not strict enough for trucks and sport-utility vehicles and that the NHTSA has not accounted for environmental impacts of the standards it set. The states filed a petition for review [PDF text] in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website]. The other states in the lawsuit are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Under the rule [NHTSA news release] issued by the NHTSA, the previous category for light trucks was split into different groupings based on a vehicle's dimensions. The rule is expected to raise average fuel economy of light trucks from 21.6 to 24 mpg when it takes full effect in 2011. Lockyer's office has a news release on the lawsuit. AP has more.