New EPA emissions regulations blocked in US

THE US  House of Representatives voted this month to pass the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act, which effectively blocks the US Environmental Protection Agency from finalising or implementing regulations on emissions standards for cars and light-duty trucks.

According to US publication Automotive Dive, the bill is in response to the EPA’s proposed rule released in May that laid out standards to reduce emissions in light-duty vehicles beginning with model year 2027 (MY27). The proposed standards would be phased in over five years.

Proponents of the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act has said the EPA’s proposal in a “de facto EV mandate”.

The Biden administration proposed the new emissions standards in April, stating it would “accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean vehicle future and tackle the climate crisis”. The bill now heads to the Senate. If it passes, President Biden says he will veto it.

The proposed rule calls for more stringent greenhouse gas standards for both light- and medium-duty vehicles from MY27 – MY32.

The standards would become increasingly more stringent each year, resulting in a 56 per cent reduction in fleet average greenhouse gas emissions for light-duty vehicles and a 44 per cent reduction for medium-duty vehicles by 2032, according to the EPA.

An EPA press release states that the standards are designed to allow manufacturers to meet the regulations in a manner that works best for their vehicle fleets, suggesting that manufacturers would utilise filters to reduce petrol particulate emissions and implement other technologies to reduce CO2 emissions in petrol-powered vehicles.

The EPA also projected an “accelerated transition to electric vehicles”, says the report, as average greenhouse gas emissions were estimated to fall by more than half between the model years 2026 and 2032.

Representatives Tim Walberg and Andrew Clyde introduced the CARS Act in July, shortly after the proposed rule’s public comment period closed.

“The Biden Administration cannot continue to create regulations that limit customer choice, hamper mobility, make vehicles more expensive for families, and cede America’s auto leadership and jobs to China,” said Mr Walberg in a statement.

Beyond blocking the EPA from implementing the new standards, the proposed legislation would also prohibit the agency from proposing or implementing any standards which “limit the availability of new motor vehicles based on the vehicle’s engine type”. It would further require the agency to update any regulations that already do so.

Automotive Dive reports that manufacturers have varying opinions on the proposal. EV producers including Lucid, Rivian and Tesla supported even more stringent standards, while Volvo supported the EPA proposal as is.

Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Volkswagen supported less stringent standards than those suggested by the EPA, while a further 10 manufacturers suggested a new standard altogether, requiring fleets to be composed of at least 50 per cent battery-electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and fuel-cell vehicles (FCEV) by the end of the decade.

Mazda was the only manufacturer opposed to the proposed standards.

According to Automotive Dive, a White House statement promising a presidential veto if the CARS Act passed stated that the bill, if enacted, would undermine the billions of dollars companies have invested in EV and battery manufacturing and that the EPA’s proposed standards are “key to expanding vehicle choice and savings for American drivers”.