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California ARB re-affirms 2025 GHG emission standards

25 March 2017

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) voted unanimously to continue with the vehicle GHG emission standards and zero-emission vehicle program for cars and light trucks sold in California through 2025. The action ensures that California and 12 other states that follow its vehicle regulations will uphold the 2025 GHG standards, even if the program is relaxed and/or delayed at the federal level.

“Today ARB affirmed the technical reviews done by our own and EPA staff, as well as the work of independent analysts,” said CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “We invite the global industry to bring us their best cars and trucks and take advantage of the willingness of our leaders to provide a broad range of incentives to help make these vehicles affordable. And we also invite them to come sit down with us if they have specific concerns about implementation of the existing regulations that can be addressed without weakening the impact overall. The program is delivering cleaner cars that save consumers money and are fun to drive: That's how we do it in California.”

The ARB vote was supported by representatives from the 12 states that have adopted California’s standards. Those states together have a population of 113 million and constitute roughly 30% of the country’s new car sales. Senior environmental officials from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon testified at the hearing to urge the Board’s approval.

The ARB action affirmed the assessment that concluded that the standards for model years 2022-25 are appropriate and feasible, in agreement with the final determination on the federal GHG emission standards for model years 2022-25 issued by the US EPA in January. Last week, however, the Trump administration rescinded that decision at the request of automakers, and announced that it intends to reconsider the final determination.

The California Governor Brown, together with the state’s Attorney General, Senate President, and Assembly Speaker criticized the move by the Trump administration.

The ARB also voted to pursue policies to support more than 4 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) in California by 2030, and established a goal to continue reducing average fleet-wide GHG emissions from new vehicles by 4-5% per year between 2025 and 2030.

California, with nearly half of all zero-emission vehicles in the country, has several programs in place to support the electric car marketplace, said the agency. The state offers rebates to new buyers or lessees of zero-emission vehicles, and is scaling the infrastructure for charging electric cards and fueling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The ARB expressed its commitment to support the ZEV marketplace by continuing complementary programs such as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, and redoubling efforts on continued state incentives and infrastructure programs.

Source: California ARB