AG Davenport joins First Circuit challenge to NHTSA’s weakened CAFE rule

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a California-led coalition petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit challenging NHTSA’s SAFE III fuel-economy rollback. The AG’s release pitches pump savings and a “maximum feasible” mandate — without publishing New Jersey-specific driver-cost modeling.

TRENTON — Attorney General Jennifer Davenport on October 2, 2026 announced that New Jersey has joined a coalition lawsuit against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over a final rule that weakens Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for new passenger cars and light trucks.

The Office of the Attorney General’s release says the suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and that the coalition alleges the rule is contrary to law and to NHTSA’s congressional mandate to set fuel-economy standards at their “maximum feasible” level. The same release asserts that NHTSA’s “backsliding” standards for the next five years require less efficiency than the U.S. fleet actually achieved in 2021.

A file-stamped Petition for Review released by California’s Department of Justice confirms New Jersey is a named petitioner and identifies the challenged rule as SAFE III, published at 91 Fed. Reg. 61,988 on September 30, 2026. Respondents named on the petition are NHTSA; Jonathan Morrison, in his official capacity as NHTSA Administrator; and Sean Duffy, in his official capacity as U.S. Transportation Secretary.

What the petition establishes (and what it does not)

The Oct. 2 petition is a short FRAP 15 / EPCA § 32909(a) filing — not a full merits brief. It asks the First Circuit to review SAFE III and states that the matter is related to California v. NHTSA, Nos. 25-8019, 25-1595, 25-1642, 25-1846 (1st Cir.), the consolidated challenges to NHTSA’s earlier “Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program” rule, 90 Fed. Reg. 24,518 (June 11, 2025).

Per the petition, that Resetting Rule set out NHTSA’s reinterpretation of the fuel-economy statutes and is the “foundation” for SAFE III; by consent of the parties, the Resetting Rule litigation was placed in abeyance pending SAFE III’s finalization.

The file-stamped caption shows “Case No. 26-” without a completed docket suffix on the California-hosted PDF Jersey Intel obtained. Treat the First Circuit case number as pending confirmation on the live docket.

Counsel of record for New Jersey on the petition: Attorney General Jennifer Davenport; Deputy Attorney General Nell Hryshko, Division of Law, Trenton.

What the NJ AG release claims (attribute tightly)

Beyond the filing facts, Davenport’s office makes several substantive assertions in the Oct. 2 press release. Until those appear in a merits brief or are independently sourced from the rule’s regulatory impact analysis, treat them as AG advocacy, not adjudicated findings:

1. EV-blind baseline. The release says the final rule “improperly forces” NHTSA to ignore millions of electric vehicles already in the existing fleet, distorting the “maximum feasible” analysis.
2. ~$220 billion in lost fuel savings. National figure tied to “previous fuel economy standards”; the release’s “Big Oil” framing is rhetoric. No New Jersey-specific pump-cost model appears in the release.
3. Climate damages set at zero. The release claims the rule ignores “hundreds of billions” in future climate-driven damages.
4. CAFE credit trading ends in 2028. Asserted as a harm to EV-related industry and employment.
5. APA / EPCA. The coalition alleges the rule is arbitrary and capricious and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.

Davenport, quoted in the release: “Every mile driven impacts our children’s future… When we set high fuel efficiency standards, we cut the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change while saving families money at the pump—proof that protecting the environment and consumers go hand in hand.”

Who is on the petition vs. who the press lists

The NJ AG release describes a coalition of “26 states, counties, and cities” and lists sister AGs plus Chicago, Denver, New York City, and San Francisco — without naming Los Angeles.

The file-stamped petition caption does include the City of Los Angeles among petitioners, along with the states/D.C. and cities named in the press lists. California’s parallel Oct. 2 release likewise uses the “26” framing and omits Los Angeles from its closing roster even though LA appears on the PDF. For accuracy, Jersey Intel follows the petition caption for party identity and notes the press-count discrepancy as a documentation soft spot — not as a reason to drop New Jersey’s participation, which is unambiguous on both the NJ release and the petition signature block.

Doubt angle: national template, thin NJ cost ledger

1. No NJ pump math in the state release. The AG says the rollback would “cost drivers even more under today’s high gas prices” and cites nearly $220 billion in lost national fuel savings. That is coalition messaging. It is not a published New Jersey registry of fleet mix, VMT, or household out-of-pocket delta. Who benefits if “maximum feasible” is litigated as a national template while New Jersey drivers’ price impact stays unquantified in Trenton’s own handout?

1. Petition ≠ proof of the dollar claims. The document Jersey Intel downloaded is a petition for review plus counsel signature pages. It does not itself recite the $220 billion figure, the climate-damage zeroing claim, or the 2028 credit-trading end. Those remain press-release allegations until briefing or the Federal Register / RIA is cited in a later filing.

1. Related-case hinge. The petition expressly leans on the Resetting Rule reinterpretation already pending (and abeyed) in the First Circuit. Readers should not treat SAFE III as a stand-alone novelty if the legal theory is continuous with that earlier fight.

1. Incomplete docket stamp. “Case No. 26-” on the file-stamped PDF is unfinished. Confirm the live First Circuit number before any “docket X” social shorthand.

1. Coalition theater risk. Multi-AG rollouts on the same day as California’s lead release are designed for national pickup. New Jersey’s incremental local value still turns on whether the AG can show a state-specific consumer, air-quality, or fleet stake beyond joining the caption.

What’s next

• Confirm the completed First Circuit case number and any consolidation/abeyance orders tying SAFE III to Nos. 25-8019 et al.
• Watch for petitioners’ opening brief and NHTSA’s response — that is where the $220B / EV-baseline / credit-trading theories must be pled with record cites.
• Watch whether NJ OAG publishes any New Jersey-specific cost, emissions, or EV-fleet supplement.
• Parallel desk note (not this package): AG also announced an Oct. 1 EPA power-plant GHG repeal challenge — keep the two federal rollbacks unconflated.