"The states have pioneered clean car standards that reduce one of this country's leading sources of global warming pollution while strengthening our national and economic security," Derek Walker, director of Environmental Defense Fund's California Climate Initiative said.
"Under federal law, EPA shall grant California's request to administer more protective motor vehicle emission standards unless EPA affirmatively finds that the state does not need the standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions," EPA said.
The state clean car standards will be applied for model year 2009-2011, until the federal standards come into effect. Starting 2012, the state standards will match the national ones. The involved states will allow fleet-wide compliance across borders, adopting the clean car standards to expand the averaging pool for determining compliance.
EPA's decision has already stirred controversy in the US, with several interested parties stepping in and having their say. The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) was among the first to do so, saying the decision lacks common sense.
"EPA's decision to reverse its 2008 denial of California's request for a pre-emption waiver is sadly a triumph of politics over good common sense." NADA's arguments their position by saying California's regulations are "illegal under federal law", "exempts a dozen automakers" and "creates a "patchwork" of "differing state regulations".
The 13 states adopting the California Clean Car standards are Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Google News