America’s Clean Cars Standards Will Stay Strong under New Proposal

(Washington, D.C. – November 30, 2016) America’s Clean Car Standards will remain strong, and continue to protect families from dangerous air pollution while helping them save money, under a proposal announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today. 

EPA announced that the Clean Car Standards “remain appropriate and that a rulemaking to change them is not warranted.”

“The Clean Cars Standards are already protecting both Americans’ lungs and their wallets, and they are doing it while driving innovations in car design that are creating jobs and helping automakers earn money,” said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund. “Keeping the Clean Car Standards strong makes sense for all of us. Today’s proposal is welcome good news, and will keep us moving in the right direction.” 

EPA is undertaking a mid-term review of the historic Clean Car Standards. The review, which includes extensive feedback from the auto industry and the public, will determine whether to adjust the target goals for model year 2022 to 2025 vehicles.   

Today, EPA proposed that the strong, protective standards are working well and can remain in place. 

Among their findings:

• The current standards will save consumers money and provide benefits to the health and welfare of Americans.

• Automakers have outperformed the standards for the first four years of the program (from model year 2012 to 2015) and manufacturers are adopting fuel efficient technologies at unprecedented rates – all while vehicle sales have increased for 6 consecutive years.

• There are more than 100 car, SUV, and pickup versions on the market today that already meet 2020 or later standards.

• Auto manufacturers can meet the model year 2022 to 2025 standards at slightly lower costs than predicted when the standards were finalized in 2012.

EPA will now hold a public comment period on the proposal that will end on December 30, 2016.

The Clean Car Standards are already increasing fuel economy in our cars, reducing unhealthy air pollution, and helping families save money at the gas pump. The current standards build from the first phase of standards adopted earlier for model years 2012 to 2016. The overall U.S. Clean Cars program is expected to double the average fuel economy of the nation’s fleet of cars and light trucks, and has won widespread support from automakers and unions alike.

You can find more about the Clean Car standards on EDF’s website.