EPA planning to delay enforcing Biden vehicle pollution rule

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to delay enforcement of a Biden-era regulation requiring significant cuts in air pollution from vehicles, a senior agency official told Reuters.

In April 2024, the EPA finalized a rule requiring significant reductions in so-called “criteria pollutants” emitted from passenger and commercial vehicles from the 2027 through 2032 model years. As part of a planned delay, the EPA is considering keeping the 2026 standard in place for two additional years to give the agency time to reconsider the Biden-era standards and how the agency sets standards, the official added.

The EPA has separately proposed revoking the scientific finding that justified setting greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles and engines.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing General Motors, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Ford, Stellantis, Hyundai and others, in September told EPA the criteria pollutant rule is “unachievable without significant increases in EV market share, while at the same time adding hundreds of dollars of additional costs to all internal combustion engine vehicles. Several changes should be made to these regulations to produce a more appropriate, cost-effective criteria emission standard.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in March announced the plan to reconsider the agency’s 2024 rules that would cut passenger vehicle fleetwide tailpipe emissions by nearly 50% by 2032 compared with 2027 projected levels. The EPA previously forecast that between 35% and 56% of new vehicles sold between 2030 and 2032 would need to be electric in order to comply.  

Zeldin told reporters this week automakers told the agency the EPA requirements “were causing adverse impacts… By heeding those concerns, it’s going to have a positive impact on the auto industry, on auto jobs and bringing down the cost of vehicles and increasing consumer choice.”

The Biden rules require a 50% reduction in criteria pollutants like nitrogen oxides through 2032 for  light vehicles and 58% cut for medium-duty vehicles. EPA last year estimated $13 billion in annualized benefits due to reduced emissions of criteria pollutants that contribute to the formation of soot and smog.

The EPA is reviewing if automakers should be able to continue to use electric vehicles to meet the standards and whether the agency should continue to allow credit banking and trading. Last week, the Transportation Department proposed ending credit trading as part of a significant rollback of fuel economy standards through 2031.

The automakers also want EPA to implement revised GHG standards as a backstop in case motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards were retained or reinstated in some way. EPA is also considering some changes to heavy-duty rules including on warranty obligations and useful life requirements.