California board keeps zero emmissions rules intact
© 2000 Reuters Limited
September 11, 2000
Story by Joshua Chaffin
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A state board decided on Friday that California should not make changes to its first-in-the-nation requirement that a certain number of new cars sold in 2003 be nonpolluting.
The California Air Resources Board decision means some 20,000 of the cars sold in the nation's most populous state must be electric in 2003. An estimated 95 percent of California residents live in areas that do not meet federal or state air quality standards, according to the board.
"I think this is part of a long-term vision to address the health issues at this time and to address the availability of zero emissions vehicles and address the growth and the pollution issues in the state," Air Resources Board Chairman Alan Lloyd told reporters after the hearing.
Auto makers had argued during the two-day hearing the technology isn't ready to make expensive-to-build electric vehicles available, but environmental and health groups said the mandate had already been relaxed enough.
"That (target) is going to be very difficult to achieve because auto makers are already in the planning stages for 2003 right now," said Gloria Berquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. "This ruling comes kind of late in the game for us."
The rules mainly affect the world's biggest auto makers, which include Ford Motor Co. , General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG , Honda Motor Co. , Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. .
The closely-watched hearings were seen as a last chance for auto makers and oil industry lobbyists-who have already gained two changes to the rules adopted in 1990 - to alter the order once more before they must begin readying for the 2003 deadline.
The outcome could also affect zero emission rules in New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont because federal law requires these states to follow any changes California makes.
Under the current rules, 4 percent of the passenger cars and light trucks sold in California in 2003 must emit no pollution. Another 6 percent of the vehicles must produce very low emissions. This would increase the more than 2,000 electric cars already rolling down California roads to 20,000.