EPA, Transportation Dept. get ball rolling on vehicle mileage, climate rules

The Obama administration in April launched first-time joint fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. from 2012 through 2016. Starting in 2012, automakers must improve the average fuel economy of their light-duty vehicles roughly 5 percent annually, reducing tailpipe emissions also by 5 percent.

This time, it’s not clear whether the Obama administration has reached any agreement with industry or environmental officials of even a range of limits for later model years.

{mosads}“There hasn’t been any agreed upon end point or target,” said Luke Tonachel, a clean-fuels expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “So it’s hard for me to say what the level of detail will be in the notice of intent.”

The proposed rule would cover fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions for new cars and light trucks sold from 2017 through 2025. President Obama in a May memorandum called for a notice of intent to issue the joint rule to be published by Sept. 30. The administration is expected to follow up next month with a notice regarding first-time standards for freight and delivery trucks beginning in model year 2014.

Environmental and other groups are pressuring the administration to ramp up fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks to at least 60 miles per gallon by 2025.

The groups — including Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment America and Greenpeace — want the administration to set standards reducing oil dependence by at least 49 billion gallons annually and carbon dioxide pollution from vehicles by at least 535 million metric tons annually by 2030.

To reach those goals, the groups say, cars and light-duty vehicles should meet federal fuel-efficiency requirements of at least 60 miles per gallon and emit no more than 145 grams-per-mile of carbon emissions by model year 2025. They say that’s possible with existing technologies, such as hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles.

Further, the groups want the administration to reduce fuel consumption from long-haul trucks by at least 35 percent by model year 2017.