In a move that officials say will significantly reduce air pollution for decades to come, the Biden administration on March 20 announced the final version of an emissions regulation that will affect all passenger vehicles in the road, including passenger cars, light trucks and medium vehicles. service vehicles The rule does not apply to heavy trucks or off-road equipment.
The rule, Multipollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later for Light- and Medium-Sized Vehicles, sets tough year-by-year targets over the next decade for automakers, severely limits the amount of emissions that vehicles of a car manufacturer can issue. It’s a performance-based standard, which the EPA says is “technology neutral.” The gradual cap on fossil fuel emissions is intended to stimulate a greater shift towards hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
“The rules will reduce more than 7 billion tons of climate pollution, improve air quality in overburdened communities, and give drivers more clean vehicle options while saving them money,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan in a statement.
According to the EPA, the new 2027 model year rule represents a nearly 50 percent reduction in average greenhouse gas emissions for light-duty vehicles and a 44 percent reduction for medium-duty vehicles. It will also lead to a reduction of almost 95% in emissions of fine particles, or smog, from gas vehicles.
The rule is a revision of a proposed rule from last year. Compared to the previous version, the final rule adopts several of the requests from automakers and labor unions to stagger annual emission reduction targets.
Environmental groups praised the new rule. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the transportation sector is the largest source of carbon pollution in the US, with cars and trucks contributing more than 80% of those emissions. The nearly 7 billion tons that will be cut between 2027 and 2055 exceed the total US greenhouse gas emissions in one year, NRDC said.
