EPA, California must compromise in their fight over weakened fuel-efficiency standards, experts say

California, which can set its own fuel efficiency standards, has fought the Environmental Protection Agency over the proposed weakening of rules set by the Obama administration that would require automakers to nearly double the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

A top EPA official said Thursday at the Washington Auto Show, which opens for the general public this week, that the agency wants to make nice with California.

“This obviously is a very important issue, and I have no interest whatsoever in withdrawing California’s ability to regulate,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Bill Wehrum, who leads the agency’s Office of Air and Radiation. “From a good solid public policy standpoint, the very best outcome for all of us to achieve is one national program.”

Wehrum added the EPA has had “productive conversations” with the California Air Resources Board, and said the agency intends to meet the April 1 deadline for setting vehicle emissions standards for 2022-2025 model years.

A spokesman for the California Air Resources Board told the Washington Examiner it plans to “stay at the table” in negotiations with the EPA.

But the California Air Resources Board has previously warned the state could withdraw from the nationwide vehicle emissions program if the EPA limits the Obama regulations.

Experts who favor one nationwide program instead of a “patchwork” of unaligned rules say the Trump administration will have to compromise if it wants to keep California in line.

“California and the federal government need to get together to solve this problem,” said Robbie Diamond, president and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce the U.S.’ demand for oil through improved vehicle efficiency. “Car companies are at pivotal moment with all this new technology coming at them at a fast speed. To get a solution, we think there has to be a clear signal from the federal government that they are willing to provide a lower number for fuel efficiency in the short-term to get the largest number in the long-term.”

Diamond says the EPA should propose tougher rules for 2026-2030, when he says carmakers would be better equipped to adapt to technological changes, in exchange for weakening the standards for the 2022-2025 vehicles.

Dave Cooke, a senior vehicle analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, doubts the Trump administration would consider proposing rules for years after 2025. That’s because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which administers the fuel efficiency standards program, can only finalize rules every five years.

“I don’t anticipate EPA making 2030 standards under the current administration,” Cooke said.

Automakers have pressed for relief from the rules the Obama administration set for 2022-2025, arguing low gasoline prices have weakened consumer demand for hybrid-electric cars and smaller, fuel-efficient models.

Less fuel-efficient SUVs and light trucks have become more popular in recent years, meaning manufacturers are having difficulty hitting the fuel-efficiency targets, automakers say.

A recent EPA report determined the auto industry missed its emissions target for the first time in 2016, a finding that automakers have used as evidence the standards are too stringent.

The Association of Global Automakers, the main trade group representing manufacturers of automobiles and light duty trucks, would not comment.

California, however, has long fought to go its own way.

Federal law since 1967 has allowed California, because of severe air pollution problems caused by smog, to obtain a waiver allowing it to set its own fuel efficiency regulations that are tougher than the national standards.

Other states can follow those instead. Collectively, states representing roughly 40 percent of the U.S. car market abide by California’s rules.

California Gov. Jerry Brown called the Trump administration’s decision to review the standards a “gift to polluters” in a letter last year to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

The state is the nation’s largest market for zero-emission, electric vehicles. There were 25,000 electric vehicles on California’s roads in 2012, compared to more than 350,000 today.

Brown, a Democrat, issued an executive order Friday to put at least 5 million electric cars on California roads by 2030.

Moody’s recently predicted that electric vehicles, which are now less than 1 percent of global car sales, will grow to 17 to 19 percent of the market by 2030.

Cooke says the U.S. has benefited from California’s leadership in cleaning up the auto industry, and the Trump administration should strive to keep up with the state’s standards.

“As a country, we have benefited pretty strongly from California’s historical leadership in the automotive sector,” Cooke said. “They led the way on tailpipe emissions standards in the 1990s and 2000s, and they have led the way on greenhouse gas emissions. They have catalyzed leadership for the U.S., and that’s one of the major questions facing the Trump administration. Is the U.S. willing to cede that leadership to China or Europe? California has looked at the data and said, why would we give up these targets that are achievable and provide tremendous benefits to the state.”

Diamond says he prefers California and the Trump administration compromise on new national standards to provide more certainty in the marketplace and eliminate the prospect of a legal battle.

He insists there is a deal to be had.

“There has been this sense the auto industry is trying to gut this thing, but that is not the case at all,” Diamond said. “The point of the review is not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Going to court and creating uncertainty at a time of incredible change to the industry because of technology is the worst thing that can happen.”