The American Petroleum Institute, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, and a number of automobile dealerships filed a Petition for Review on June 13th challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule entitled:
Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles (“Final Rule”).
See Fed. Reg. 27,842 (April 18, 2024).
EPA promulgated the Final Rule pursuant to the argued authority of the Clean Air Act.
New emissions standards are established for criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases for light-duty vehicles and Class 2b and 3 (“medium-duty”) vehicles that will phase-in over model years 2027 through 2032. Further, the Final Rule undertakes greenhouse gas program revisions in areas such as:
- Off-cycle and air conditioning credits
- Treatment of upstream emissions associated with zero-emission vehicles.
- Treatment of upstream emissions associated with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
EPA previously stated that it viewed the Final Rule as a:
. . . blueprint for the pace of the electric transition in the U.S. and puts the country on track to catch up to regions like the European Union (EU) and China which have been leading the global transition to EVs.
The standards are applicable to new light-duty and medium-duty vehicles. These include passenger vehicles, light trucks, and large pickups and vans.
The Final Rule has been estimated as eventually requiring a 50 percent drop in the average emissions per mile for light-duty vehicles.
EPA also previously estimated that the Final Rule will result in 68 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in 2032 being powered by electricity.
United States energy and fuel producers have argued that the Final Rule will effectively ban most new gasoline-powered cars and trucks in less than eight years. Concerns cited by these groups include:
- Lack of Clean Air Act authority to impose these requirements.
- Adverse impact on the economy.
- Placing internal combustion engines at an arbitrary disadvantage.
- Potential threat to national security.
- Making energy less reliable.
A copy of the Petition can be downloaded here.
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