(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration is set to propose stiffer limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars that at least in the short term will fall short of what environmental activists have called for, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Initial requirements would be patterned on a compromise automakers reached with California regulators two years ago -- rather than immediately adopt the tougher mandates charted by former President Barack Obama in 2012.
The standards, drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency and now under White House review, are the centerpiece of the administration’s efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector that is now the leading U.S. source of them. The people asked for anonymity to discuss the emissions plan because it is not yet public.
The proposed mandates, which could be issued as soon as next week, reflect the Biden administration’s bid to boost standards governing fuel economy and tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions that were weakened by former President Donald Trump.
Activists had pressed President Joe Biden to mandate emissions curbs that are at least as strong as those he helped broker as vice president in 2012, when the Obama administration mandated a 5% reduction annually. That would have led to a a fleet-wide average of almost 50 miles (80.47 kilometers) per gallon in 2025. Instead, in the short term, the Biden administration will propose effectively adopt the more modest emissions curbs embodied in the California compromise, which requires just 3.7% increases in efficiency annually.
However, under the coming proposal, annual stringency gains would tighten further for vehicles beginning in model year 2025. According to one of the people familiar with the matter, the EPA would require at least a 5% improvement beginning with the 2025 model year. The result would be requirements in line with what the original Obama-era standards would have reached had they been left in place, said the other person.
While the EPA proposal will govern tailpipe emissions, the Transportation Department has drafted its own measure setting new fuel-economy standards.
An EPA spokesman declined to comment. The Transportation Department said in an emailed statement it had reviewed and re-evaluated the standards for light-duty vehicles and submitted its proposal for interagency review.
The Associated Press reported the plans earlier.
Environmentalists reacted coolly to the report, saying the promise of tougher mandates for later-model-year cars isn’t enough to make up for modest requirements in the short term. And, they said, it falls short of what automakers and Obama administration officials agreed to in 2012.
“With his clean-car standards, Obama pushed automakers to accept the biggest single step of any nation to cut global warming pollution,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transportation Campaign. “Biden is letting the car companies coast.”
The coming EPA proposal will govern emissions for model years 2023 through 2026. Although additional rules would be needed to impose standards for later-model cars, the administration has signaled they plan stiffer reductions.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
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