The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule repealing the 2009 greenhouse gas (GHG) Endangerment Finding and removing federal GHG emission standards for motor vehicles and engines for model years 2012 and later, according to an announcement on 12 February.
The action also eliminates associated compliance programs, credit provisions, reporting requirements and all off-cycle credits, including those related to vehicle start-stop systems. The EPA stated that the rule does not affect regulations addressing criteria pollutants or hazardous air pollutants.
The Endangerment Finding had served as the legal basis for federal regulation of GHG emissions from vehicles under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. In the final rule announced today, the agency states that it has reevaluated that authority in light of subsequent court decisions and concluded that the Clean Air Act does not provide statutory authority for regulating motor vehicle GHG emissions in the manner previously applied.
Prior to the rule announcement, the EPA had held a 52-day public comment period, which included four days of virtual public hearings where more than 600 individuals testified. The agency said it received about 572,000 public comments on the proposed rule and made substantial updates to the final rule in response to comments. A summary of public input and EPA’s responses to all comments can be found in the final rule preamble and accompanying documents, and all comments received, including entries summarizing several hundred mass-mailer campaigns, are available in the rulemaking docket.
