EPA considers tougher auto emissions rules
— -- A simmering fight over auto emissions flares anew Thursday, and the outcome could boost the price of your next new car.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins hearings Thursday to decide whether to reverse its 2007 decision blocking proposed California clean-air regulations that would have the effect of a dramatic rise in fuel economy requirements.
Revisiting the Bush-era decision was among the first orders from President Obama.
Mary Nichols told a packed EPA hearing just outside Washington that if the state is unable to control the gases blamed for global warming from cars and trucks, its other air pollution problems will get worse.
The head of California's air pollution agency said the federal government made a mistake when it blocked his state from setting its own standards for controlling auto emissions.
If the California rules limiting what are called greenhouse gases (ghg) are allowed to take effect, they would apply in that state, as well as in 13 others and the District of Columbia, which have adopted its rules. Together they account for about 40% of new vehicle sales. Seven states say they are near adopting California's rules or soon will be.
Reducing ghg emissions requires using less gasoline or diesel fuel. To meet California standards, an automaker's cars and small SUVs would have to average about 40 miles per gallon in 2015. For larger SUVs, minivans and full-size pickups, they call for the equivalent of about 25 mpg.
By contrast, new federal fuel economy requirements contained in the 2007 Energy Bill mandate a 35 mpg industry average for cars and trucks by 2020.
The California system "allows companies to 'over-comply' in trucks and swing credits over to cars," which would help Detroit makers, who sell more trucks, to comply, says Roland Hwang, vehicles policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. NRDC favors imposing California rules nationwide.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, which backs the California rules, says current technology, such as continuously variable transmissions and variable engine valve timing, can help meet the standards but could add $700 to $1,400 to the price of a car or truck.
Mark Cooper, research director of the Consumer Federation of America, argues that the price increases won't matter because cars will have to burn less fuel to meet the rules, so fuel costs will go down: "The monthly bill, the cost of owning and operating the automobile, can be lower."
Dave McCurdy, president of the industry's 11-member Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement Wednesday: "The alliance supports a single, nationwide program that is administered by the federal government, that bridges state and federal concerns, and that moves all stakeholders towards an aggressive, national, fuel economy/greenhouse gas emissions program."
In remarks prepared for the hearing, Eric Fedewa, vice president of consultants CSM Worldwide, said: "Allowing California to regulate CO{-2} emissions, and thus fuel economy, will further damage companies that are struggling, like GM, Ford, Chrysler and much of their supply base."
Dealers worry that automakers would force them to take cars and trucks meeting the California standard rather than what their local markets demand. Then dealers would have to cut into their profits to unload the cars at discounts.
California has for decades been allowed to set its own clean-air rules under the conditions that they be at least as tough as federal rules, they address a problem specific to the state (such as smog) and they allow the affected industries enough time to gear up technologically to comply with the rules.
The state says it met those criteria in asking for the tighter ghg emission standards that were blocked by the EPA.
Contributing: Jason Paul