Trump officials begin review of Obama emissions standards for cars

By Dino Grandoni August 10 at 6:51 PM

The Trump administration gave notice it intends to relax the rules governing greenhouse gas emissions on new model cars Thursday, in its latest move to undo President Barack Obama’s climate policies.

In a notice on the federal register, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department announced they were considering rewriting emissions standards for cars and light trucks made between 2021 and 2025.

While other climate-change initiatives spearheaded by President Obama — like the EPA strategy for reducing emissions from power plants, called the Clean Power Plan — received more scrutiny from industry and conservative critics, emissions standards for cars are just as consequential for curbing the buildup of atmosphere-warming gases, analysts said.
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The notice begins a 45-day public comment period on a potential relaxation of the rules for cars and light trucks.
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Juliet Eilperin contributed to this report.

Dino Grandoni is an energy and environmental policy reporter and the author of PowerPost's daily tipsheet on the beat, The Energy 202. Follow @dino_grandoni

News Releases from Headquarters

EPA, DOT Open Comment Period On Reconsideration of GHG Standards for Cars and Light Trucks

08/10/2017

Contact Information:
(press@epa.gov)

WASHINGTON — Today, in a joint Federal Register notice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), opened a public comment period on the reconsideration of the January 2017 Final Determination for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for cars and light trucks for model years (MY) 2022-2025. Separately, EPA is also taking comment on whether the MY 2021 standards are appropriate. The Agency is inviting the public to submit relevant data and information that can inform a final determination of the standards.

“We are moving forward with an open and robust review of emissions standards, consistent with the timeframe provided in our regulations,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “We encourage the public to submit the best-available and most up-to-date information, so that we can get back on track with what the regulation actually requires of the Agency. Finally, we are working with DOT to ensure that our standards are ultimately aligned.”

In March 2017, EPA and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the Trump Administration’s decision to revisit the Midterm Evaluation Process, which was established as a part of the 2012 final greenhouse gas emissions standards for model years 2017-2025. This requires EPA to determine, no later than April 1, 2018, whether the 2022-2025 standards determined by the previous administration are appropriate.  If the Agency believes that the final determination issued by the past administration is not realistic, it would submit a new proposal for public comment.

EPA, under the Trump Administration, is reopening the regulatory docket for the best available information from the public, such as consumer behavior, feedback on modeling approaches, and assessing advanced fuels technologies. The comment period will be open for 45 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register. EPA will also hold a public hearing for this notice, with the date and location of the public hearing to be announced in a supplemental Federal Register document.

“We want to increase public participation, listen to those impacted directly by our regulations and use the best available information and data to inform our regulatory actions,” said Administrator Pruitt.

Additional Background:

In its July 26, 2017 “Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Model Year 2022–2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that as part of its upcoming Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rulemaking, it may evaluate the model year 2021 standards it finalized in 2012 to ensure they remain “maximum feasible” (See 82 FR 34742). In today’s notice, in the interest of harmonization between the GHG and CAFE programs, EPA is also requesting comment on whether the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas standards established for model year 2021 are appropriate.

As part of the rulemaking establishing GHG standards for MYs 2017-2025, EPA included a Mid-term Evaluation for the MY 2022-2025 standards. EPA regulations require EPA to determine whether or not the existing standards for model years remain appropriate under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. The Final Determination is the last step in a Midterm Evaluation process and must be completed by April 1, 2018.

For more information, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/midterm-evaluation-light-duty-vehicle-ghg-emissions

Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.

The Midterm Evaluation Process

Reconsideration of the Midterm Evaluation Final Determination

Public Comment Period: EPA is requesting comment on whether the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas standards established for model years 2022-2025 are appropriate under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act and is inviting stakeholders to submit any data and information they believe are relevant to the Administrator’s reconsideration of the January 2017 Mid-term Evaluation Final Determination. EPA is also requesting comment on a separate question of whether the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas standards established for model year 2021 remain appropriate, regardless of the agency’s decision on the MTE. The comment period will close 45 days after the notice opening the comment period is published in the Federal Register. For information regarding the comment period and how to submit comments, please see the Federal Register notice:

• Federal Register Notice: Request for Comment on Reconsideration of the Final Determination of the Mid-term Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Model Year 2022-2025 Light-duty Vehicles; Request for Comment on Model Year 2021 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards (PDF)(12 pp, 234 K, prepublication, signed August 10, 2017)

The docket will open for submittal of public comments upon publication of the Federal Register notice. Comments may be submitted at www.regulations.gov to Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0827.

Public Hearing: EPA will also hold a public hearing on this notice. EPA will announce the public hearing date and location in a supplemental Federal Register document.

On March 15, 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced that EPA intends to reconsider the final determination, issued on January 12, 2017, that recommended no change to the greenhouse gas standards for light duty vehicles for model years 2022- 2025. EPA now announces it will reconsider that determination in coordination with NHTSA.

This process was established as a part of the 2012 final GHG emissions standards for model years 2017-2025, requiring EPA to determine no later than April 1, 2018, whether the standards for model years 2022-2025 established are appropriate. In accord with this schedule, EPA intends to make a new Final Determination regarding the appropriateness of the standards no later than April 1, 2018.

• Federal Register Notice: Notice of Intention to Reconsider the Final Determination of the Mid-Term Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Model Year 2022-2025 Light Duty Vehicles (PDF) ( 2 pp, 185 K, published March 22, 2017)

• Alliance of Auto Manufacturers Letter to Administrator Pruitt