Keep in mind, we haven't even seen the actual lawsuits yet; this is only speculation by TMZ, an "entertainment" rag that thrives on rumor and innuendo. With that much money involved, it's SOP to get lawyers yelling at each other; only TMZ has jumped to the conclusion that they will actually file in court, let alone what the court filing will actually say. Like I said before, it's going to be a lot easier to sue over the existing laws that were broken, than to try to get a court to create new laws out of one car crash.
As far as California wanting their laws to apply nationwide, I feel that is a gross distortion of the facts. California wants to dictate emission rules within the state of California. It's the car makers that want to have the same rules nationwide, so they don't have to be bothered with producing two versions of every car.
Because of geography and the sheer number of vehicles involved, the Los Angeles area does have a severe problem with air pollution. This is a naturally smoggy area to begin with (oil seeps, like the La Brea tar pits, emit a lot, not to mention the natural forest fires), but it's much worse when people get involved. When I moved here in 1978, almost every day was a first stage smog alert and the air looked terrible. Early in the morning, you could see the brown tunnels of smog forming over each and every freeway; making it abundantly clear that car exhaust was a significant portion of the problem.
Out past Palm Springs, there is a fairly narrow mountain pass; from the desert side you could see the brown air pouring through the pass and dissipating into the desert.
And as much as gear heads hate emission equipment, it has worked. In spite of even more people and more cars, the air in the Los Angeles smog basin is a lot cleaner now than it was. I'm inclined to disagree with many aspects myself; but there can be no doubt that overall, the rules have succeeded in cleaning up the air.