EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt signaled Tuesday he plans to confront California over the state’s ambitious fuel efficiency rules for cars and trucks.
“California is not the arbiter of these issues,” Pruitt told Bloomberg in an interview.
California regulates greenhouse gas emissions at the state level, “but that shouldn’t and can’t dictate to the rest of the country what these levels are going to be,” he said.
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.
Automakers have pressed for relief from the rules, arguing low gasoline prices have weakened consumer demand for hybrid-electric cars and smaller, fuel-efficient models.
The EPA has an April 1 deadline to decide whether the regulations covering the 2022-2025 model years should be revised.
Annette Hebert, an official with the California Air Resources Board, has warned the state could withdraw from the nationwide vehicle emissions program if the EPA limits the regulations.
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.
Trump administration officials have said in recent weeks that the EPA aims to maintain “one national program” for vehicle-emissions rules and wants to avoid a legal battle with California over the issue.
To come to an agreement, and head off a legal battle, some experts have said the EPA could propose tougher rules for 2026-2030, when carmakers would be better equipped to adapt to technological changes, in exchange for weakening the standards for the 2022-2025 vehicles.
Pruitt dismissed that possibility on Tuesday.
“Being predictive about what’s going to be taking place out in 2030 is really hard,” Pruitt said. “I think it creates problems when you do that too aggressively. That’s not something we’re terribly focused on right now.”
