NESCAUM Welcomes EPA’s Final Rule on Revised 2023 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2021

Contact
Paul J. Miller, Executive Director
(617) 259-2016
pmiller@nescaum.org
www.nescaum.org

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final rule to strengthen federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for model year 2023 and later passenger cars and light trucks. The Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) welcomes this action. EPA’s new rule corrects serious errors made in the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule, which improperly rolled back GHG standards far below levels that are appropriate, feasible, and necessary to protect public health.

Paul Miller, NESCAUM Executive Director, said: “The technologies needed to meet the revised GHG emissions standards for passenger vehicles are widely available and in use today. As EPA recognizes, these standards will provide dramatic reductions in GHG and criteria pollutant emissions that are needed to stabilize the climate and protect public health. In addition, strong federal GHG emissions standards will ensure the competitiveness of the American automotive industry in a rapidly changing global marketplace, saving consumers money, and creating new economic opportunities.”

NESCAUM applauds today’s action and urges EPA to quickly propose GHG standards for post-2026 model year vehicles that will put the nation on track to meet the administration’s goal that 50 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold in 2030 will be zero-emission vehicles. NESCAUM’s member state agencies have long been at the forefront of clean transportation policy and will continue to support strong motor vehicle emissions standards that spur market innovation, create high-quality jobs, and protect public health and welfare.

NESCAUM previously submitted written comments and testimony on EPA’s proposed rule.

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NESCAUM is the regional non-profit association of state air pollution control agencies in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NESCAUM serves as a technical and policy advisor to its member agencies on a wide range of air pollution and climate issues and facilitates multi-state initiatives to improve air quality and mitigate climate change. For more than three decades, NESCAUM and its members have closely collaborated with California and other states, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the automobile industry to promote low- and zero-emission vehicles.

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