EPA announces intent to revise Obama Administration emissions standards News
EPA announces intent to revise Obama Administration emissions standards

Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency [official website] on Monday announced [press release] the agency’s intent to revise greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and light trucks. The emissions standards will affect vehicles with model years of 2022-2025.

Pruitt criticized the Obama Administration’s emissions standards, saying the former administration “made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality, and set the standards too high.” EPA plans to review a January 2017 final determination [text, PDF] issued by the Obama Administration as part of the mid-term evaluation (MTE) [official materials] which Pruitt’s EPA contends “short-circuited the MTE process” and was “rushed out [by the prior administrator] on January 12, 2017, just days before leaving office.”

The EPA will be working with the National Highway Traffic Administration [official website] to create a rule following a notice and comment period.

Pruitt also stated that he will be reevaluating the waiver given to California [materials] to set emissions standards that are stricter than the federal requirements.

Many groups have expressed serious concerns over Pruitt’s tenure as the head of the EPA. In July, a federal appeals court rejected [JURIST report] EPA attempts to postpone protections against methane leaks. Last April an environmental group asked [JURIST report] an appeals court to order the EPA to implement a pesticide ban. In February 2017, Pruitt vowed [JURIST report] to cutback on Obama Administration regulations.