Clean Cars
California’s Motor Vehicle Global Warming Regulations
With landmark legislation adopted in 2002 (AB 1493, known colloquially as the “Pavley” bill), California set motor vehicles standards for emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydro fluorocarbons (the primary pollutants that create global warming). These standards require automobile manufacturers to meet a declining fleet-wide average for these pollutants, which results in about a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions through 2016. Manufacturers can meet these standards by adding existing technologies to cars and trucks, that increase efficiency, decrease air conditioning leakage, and/or allow for the use of alternative fuels.
California’s Waiver Request and Auto Industry Challenges
Under the Clean Air Act, Congress gave California a special role as an innovative leader and "pioneer" in the area of motor vehicle regulations. Congress authorized California to adopt motor vehicle standards stricter than federal requirements. California must obtain permission (a "waiver") from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, before enforcing its standards. Thirteen other states have adopted California's Pavley regulations.
In December, 2005, California applied to U.S. EPA for a waiver to implement its Pavley regulations. The Bush Administration's EPA delayed action on California's request for over two years, before finally denying it in March 2008. It finally denied California's waiver request on March 8, 2008.
After the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requested that EPA reconsider its denial, EPA in June 2009 granted the waiver request, which begins with motor vehicles in the 2009 model year. 74 Fed. Reg. 32744 (July 8, 2009). Read the waiver decision.
[PDF 740 kb / 42 pg]
The automobile industry filed numerous lawsuits in federal and state court challenging the regulations adopted by California and other states. All of the litigation was unsuccessful, including a 16-day federal court trial in Vermont in 2007 (see the order [PDF 701 kb / 244 pg])
and a federal court decision in California in 2007. Read the decision.
[PDF 354 kb / 66 pg]
Federal Fuel Efficiency Standards
One of the ways that automakers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks is to install currently available technology that also increases fuel efficiency. The Attorney General has argued forcefully for the federal government to set stronger federal fuel efficiency standards, filing multi-state comments on standards proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") in 2005 that raised fuel economy by a paltry 1 mile per gallon. Read the comments.
[PDF 1.2 mb / 15 pg]The Attorney General later successfully sued NHTSA for failing to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act analyzing the standard's impact on greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Read the decision.
[PDF 344 kb / 99 pg]In response to the decision, NHTSA finalized new fuel efficiency standards for model year 2011 cars in early 2009.
The Nationwide Agreement
On May 19, 2009, President Obama announced a new national policy aimed at increasing fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions for all new cars and trucks sold throughout the U.S. The new national policy, which will harmonize greenhouse gas emissions standards and fuel economy standards, is the result of an agreement among California, the federal government, and the automobile industry.
As part of the agreement, EPA and the federal Department of Transportation jointly developed new federal standards for model years 2012-2016, that will require an average fuel economy standard of 35.5 mpg in 2016. The rule can be found at http://epa.gov/otag/climate/regulations.htm. This is roughly equivalent to Pavley's 2016 greenhouse gas emission standard and surpasses the standard set in the fuel economy law passed by Congress in 2007, which required an average fuel economy of 35 mpg in 2020.
The automobile industry dismissed all of its litigation opposing California's standards and agreed not to challenge EPA's waiver grant. To facilitate implementation of the new standards, CARB has adopted some technical modifications to its regulations that will allow automakers to coordinate their demonstration of compliance with California's standards and federal greenhouse gas and fuel efficiency standards.
On September 8, 2009, and in violation of the spirit of the nationwide agreement, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Automobile Dealers Association sued EPA to challenge its granting of the waiver to California for its standards. California has intervened in that matter to assist EPA in defending the waiver decision and the case is currently being briefed.