In one of its last major actions on climate, the Biden administration Wednesday finalized a key waiver allowing California to set its own vehicle pollution controls – effectively allowing the nation’s most populous state to implement its 2035 ban on selling new gasoline cars.

The US EPA granted California’s waiver, which the incoming Trump administration is likely to try to overturn in the courts. The state's zero-emission vehicle mandates have been the driving force behind California's progress in cleaning up dangerous air pollutants.

The Biden administration has authorized California regulations that compel the sale of zero-emission vehicles over the next decade and ultimately ban the sale of conventional, gasoline-powered cars in 2035.