Opinion ID: 715640
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prior Proceedings and the District Court's Grant of Summary Judgment

Text: 17 Plaintiffs filed suit on July 9, 1992 claiming that New York's emissions standards violated the Clean Air Act on six counts and seeking permanent injunctive relief. Five of the six counts were disposed of in Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of the United States, Inc. v. New York State Dep't of Envtl. Conservation, 810 F.Supp. 1331 (N.D.N.Y.1993) (MVMA I), and Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass'n of the United States, Inc. v. New York State Dep't of Envtl. Conservation, 831 F.Supp. 57 (N.D.N.Y.1993) (MVMA II), as modified by MVMA III. The remaining count was the manufacturers' claim that New York's failure to adopt the clean fuels component of California's regulations along with the low emission vehicles program would effectively compel them to modify California cars for sale in New York, in violation of § 177's third vehicle prohibition. The district court had initially granted summary judgment to plaintiffs on this count, MVMA I, 810 F.Supp. at 1345, but upon reconsideration denied summary judgment to both parties, MVMA II, 831 F.Supp. at 61, so this issue was not before us in MVMA III. Subsequently, the district court again reconsidered the third vehicle question in light of MVMA III and held there were no issues of disputed fact material to the question of whether New York's regulations impermissibly require production of a third vehicle, and awarded summary judgment to defendants. MVMA IV, 869 F.Supp. at 1015. It is from this ruling that plaintiffs appeal.