The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday said the Trump administration ran afoul of a congressional mandate and the Administrative Procedure Act when it tried to roll back penalties for violating fuel efficiency standards, spelling out its reasoning for granting New York and four other states an environmental law victory over the White House.

A panel composed of Circuit Judges Ralph Winter, Rosemary Pooler and Barrington Parker found the White House’s move violated a directive to keep agency violation penalties in line with inflation and also failed to comply with the APA by attempting to delay the implementation of the Obama-era rules indefinitely.