EPA Grants California Waiver It Needs To Regulate Tailpipe Emissions in the State

EPA Grants California Waiver It Needs To Regulate Tailpipe Emissions in the State

UPDATE: Adds details, comments from state officials.

By Scott Doggett, Contributor

The Obama administration announced today that it will give California the waiver it needs to begin regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from cars and trucks, ending the state's seven-year battle to enforce its own stringent tailpipe standards.

The decision comes a little more than a month after President Obama unveiled a suite of new national auto standards that weds federal fuel-economy standards with California's proposed emissions standards, making today's announcement anticlimactic.

Still, those federal standards will not take effect until model-year 2012, meaning the waiver will allow California and other states that choose to enforce their own emissions standards to begin with this year's models.

"This waiver is consistent with the Clean Air Act as it's been used for the last 40 years and supports the prerogatives of the 13 states and the District of Columbia who have opted to follow California's lead," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement. "More importantly, this decision reinforces the historic agreement on nationwide emissions standards developed by a broad coalition of industry, government and environmental stakeholders earlier this year."

Under the Clean Air Act, California is the only state that can enforce its own standards -- but only with an EPA waiver. Now that California has been granted the waiver, other states will be allowed to enforce the same tailpipe standard. Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia have already moved to adopt the California's standards, and a handful of others have indicated they may follow.

"The waiver affirms California 's authority to set the standards for the cleanest cars in the nation and recognizes the ability of forward-thinking states to continue to adopt them," CARB Chairwoman Mary Nichols said in a statement. "Now we can begin to work with the manufacturers to make a new generation of cars that deliver all the comfort and power we have come to expect but with improved efficiency and far fewer greenhouse gas emissions."

The waiver gives California -- and states that choose to adopt California's standards -- permission to enforce its standards through 2009, 2010 and 2011; or three years earlier than the federal standards take effect.

Additionally, California is working on an extension beyond 2016 right now, CARB spokesman Stanley Young told Green Car Advisor. He said CARB officials are in communication with Obama administration officials regarding national fuel-economy standards, "but we're working independently in California as a kind of laboratory of innovation."

In other words, California's air-quality regulators are going to do what they feel is best for the state regardless of what the U.S. EPA does. Young said he's hopeful national regulators will follow California's lead.

"This is just the first step in a much longer journey to produce cleaner cars," he said.

California adopted the tailpipe standards in 2002 and had been fighting for a waiver since 2005. Under then-President George W. Bush, EPA denied the state's request, but Obama ordered a review of the decision soon after taking office.

The auto industry had challenged California's attempt to regulate tailpipe emissions, arguing it would create a "regulatory patchwork" that would depress overall sales and put some dealers at a competitive disadvantage. Car makers and dealers argued that because consumers buy vehicles in different quantities in different states, automakers' fleetwide greenhouse-gas averages would vary by state, forcing manufacturers to manipulate the amount of each model they make available in each state.

The litigation was unsuccessful in federal courts, and the industry agreed to drop their legal challenges as part of the compromise that led to the new federal auto standards.

Little Fanfare

Despite the drawn-out legal battle that proceeded the administration's decision on the waiver, today's announcement had no fanfare in Washington. Unlike May's auto standard announcement, which Obama himself made in the White House Rose Garden, today's decision was announced in an EPA release, followed by a background briefing for reporters.

Still, California officials and a number of environmental groups and state advocates that had backed the Golden State in its effort hailed the news as a significant victory.

"After being asleep at the wheel for over two decades, the federal government has finally stepped up and granted California its nation-leading tailpipe emissions waiver," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said. "This decision is a huge step for our emerging green economy that will create thousands of new jobs and bring Californians the cars they want while reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

Roland Hwang, transportation director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement: "U.S. EPA's long-overdue waiver puts the federal seal of approval on California's leadership to curb global warming pollution from tailpipe emissions. President Obama understands the urgency of addressing our climate challenge and reducing our oil dependence."

"This is a great victory for anyone concerned about the climate," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. "We commend EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for making an honest evaluation of California's request on legal and technical grounds. The decision sets an important precedent."

William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, likewise applauded the victory. "Symbolically, this action demonstrates the respect of this administration for states' rights and the important role states have played, and will continue to play, as laboratories of innovation," he said.

Obama's proposed joint rulemaking to govern emissions and fuel economy will mandate a 5 percent annual increase in fuel economy for model years 2012 through 2016. It would push corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards to a fleetwide average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years ahead of the schedule Congress laid out in a 2007 energy law.

In addition, the rulemaking would limit the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions from passenger cars and light trucks, the first-ever such federal standard for the vehicles. California has agreed to defer to the national standard through 2016, when the proposed five-year rulemaking would expire.

Automakers Respond

Automakers responded to today's EPA decision by reaffirming their support for the single national program announced last month by Obama.

"President Obama's decision last month to create a single national program for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards moves us towards a policy that ensures that consumers in all 50 states have access to highly-fuel-efficient vehicles at an affordable price," said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade association of 11 car and light-truck manufacturers.  "We are hopeful the granting of this waiver will not undermine the enormous efforts put forth to create the national program."

EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have initiated efforts to issue a joint rulemaking that is intended to reflect a coordinated and harmonized approach to implementing the Clean Air Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The rulemaking is expected to begin shortly and be concluded by March 30, 2010, and will apply to vehicles from model-year 2012-2016.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.