EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Monday announced that aggressive light-vehicle fuel efficiency and emissions limits set under the Obama administration for model years 2022 to 2025 are “not appropriate,” triggering a controversial new rulemaking process to adjust the standards and a possible showdown with California.
This story by Eric Kulisch originally appeared in Automotive News.
The EPA and NHTSA, the nation’s auto safety regulator, will work to produce a joint proposal in the coming months that either lowers the emission targets, extends the deadlines, or offers companies more flexibility to gain and apply credits for past performance toward future goals.
Pruitt put California on notice that it would not allow the state to impose its stricter standard on the federal government. Numerous reports have suggested Pruitt is considering revoking California’s waiver to set its own emissions rules if it doesn’t cooperate.
Automakers welcomed Monday’s decision and said it’s premature to assume the mileage rules will be rolled back in any meaningful way.
Republican congressmen Fred Upton of Michigan, Bob Latta of Ohio and John Shimkus of Illinois, who chair subcommittees in the House Energy and Commerce subcommittees, applauded the EPA’s new final determination on fuel economy standards, saying it “reflects current realities and better mirrors what the car-buying public wants.
