© Environment News Service (ENS) 1999
December 21, 1999
By Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON, DC, December 21, 1999 (ENS) - President Bill Clinton unveiled sweeping new pollution controls today that will require new light trucks and sport utility vehicles to meet the same tailpipe emission standards as cars. The final rules, which also require oil companies to produce cleaner gasoline, close a loophole that has permitted some of the best selling vehicles on the market to emit more pollution than allowed for most automobiles.
The tailpipe emissions rules, first proposed earlier this year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will be phased in starting with 2004 model cars. All new light passenger trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) will have to meet the standards by 2007, and all other new vehicles must meet them by 2009.
These popular vehicles currently emit three to five times more pollution than passenger cars.
"We’re setting tough new standards that over the coming decade will reduce tailpipe emissions as much as 95 percent," said Clinton. Speaking at the Maury Elementary School in Washington, D.C., the President noted that Americans are now driving twice as many miles each year than they did 20 years ago.
The tailpipe rules focus on nitrogen oxides (NOx), which react with sunlight to form smog. Cars are now limited to emissions of 0.4 grams of NOx per mile. Light trucks, minivans and SUVs can emit 0.7 grams to 1.1 grams, depending on their size.
Under the new rule, 2004 model year cars must emit no more than 0.07 grams of NOx, with larger vehicles phasing in the same standard from 2007 to 2009.
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) says the air quality benefits from cuts in smog forming pollutants are expected to be comparable to removing over 150 million of today's vehicles from the nation's fleet in 2020 when the program is fully implemented.
The final rule also cuts the allowable sulfur content of gasoline from its current average of 330 parts per million to 30 parts per million by 2006, a reduction of nearly 90 percent. Sulfur reduces the efficiency of vehicle catalytic converters, making cars produce more pollution.
"This is a clean air trifecta that will cut harmful smog, reduce fine sooty particles breathed deep into the lungs, and help curb air pollution damage to our forests, lakes, and streams," said EDF clean air attorney Vickie Patton.
The standards Clinton announced are nearly the same as those proposed by the EPA in May, but the agency says it made the rules tougher by extending them to cover even the heaviest of passenger trucks.
"For the first time we are applying the same strict standards to cars and sports utility vehicles, including the largest models," said Clinton. "These measures will assure cleaner air for every American well into the 21st century."
The EPA says the changes will add only one or two pennies to the price of a gallon of gas, and up to $200 to the prices of most vehicles.
But refiners say meeting the new low sulfur requirement will cost them up to $6 billion over the next 10 years, adding as much as 10 cents a gallon to the cost of making gasoline. National Petrochemical and Refiners Association president Urvan Sternfels has warned the EPA the proposal for "swift and severe reductions in gasoline sulfur comes dangerously close to playing a game of ‘Russian roulette’ with America's gasoline supply."
"EPA's proposal goes too far too fast, and it endangers both our gasoline supply and the viability of the refining industry," Sternfels said. "The current high utilization rate of U.S. refineries leaves little room for error, and the new restrictions on sulfur content could stretch the industry beyond the breaking point if these needs are not considered."
Automakers had joined environmental groups in urging the EPA to make even sharper reductions in gasoline sulfur - down to five parts per million. Lower sulfur gasoline makes it easier for automakers to meet tailpipe emissions standards.
Automakers had also lobbied for a later deadline for meeting the new tailpipe rules. Facing a need to make significant manufacturing changes to bring new light trucks and SUVs into compliance, the auto industry pressed for a 2011 model year deadline. Nearly half of the 15 million vehicles built each year will be affected by the new rule.
But major automakers said today they will do what is necessary to meet the new regulations. "We are committed to developing the technology that will provide the clean-air benefits that the EPA believes it needs, but we had hoped to have sufficient time to make the necessary changes," said Josephine Cooper, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. "This is a huge change for the industry."
Helen Petrauskas, vice president of environmental safety and engineering for Ford Motor Company, said "EPA and automakers have invested tremendous effort" in creating the new rule.
"We have consistently said that one of the keys to introducing advanced emissions control technologies is to have cleaner fuel," Petrauskas said in a statement. "We are pleased that EPA has adopted a national gasoline standard that lowers sulfur content, and will realize the potential of the clean technologies we are already delivering to consumers."
Ford has already committed to making its trucks and SUVs run as cleanly as its cars, and the company did not lobby against the EPA plan.
"Although these rules present formidable challenges, Ford Motor Co. is prepared to meet or exceed them," said Petrauskas. "We hope this encouraging first step is followed shortly by further improvements in fuel quality that will enable the technologies of the future."
Environmentalists praised the new rules. "President Clinton, Vice President Gore and the Environmental Protection Agency have given all Americans the gift of clean air," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.
"These new standards will have important clean air benefits in communities across the country, and the costs are reasonable," said EDF’s Patton. "This clean air program is a win-win for the American public."