US lawmakers push EPA to stop blocking Californian auto standards

The US Congress last week introduced a second piece of legislation designed to overturn a ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) preventing California and 12 other states from imposing their own greenhouse gas emissions restrictions on cars.

The legislation, introduced in the House of Representatives, follows a similar Senate bill introduced in January. It will seek to allow California and other states to proceed with plans to set their own ceiling for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles manufactured starting next year.

The legislation is the latest twist in a turbulent few years in US car emission legislation. In December 2005, the California Air Resource Board asked for a waiver that would enable it to impose state-level car emission standards relating to greenhouse gases. The standards were part of the Clean Car Program, a more stringent set of car emissions rules adopted by 12 states that included limits on emissions other than greenhouse gases.

However, last December the EPA rejected the application for a waiver, which Californian officials believed they were entitled to under the Clean Air Act. The EPA reasoned that global warming is a global problem, meaning that the request did not the "meet compelling and extraordinary conditions" needed to grant California the waiver it required to set its own emissions rules.

Colorado is one of the twelve states supporting the Clean Car Program. Keith Hay, energy advocate at Environmental Colorado, called the EPA's decision to block the waiver application a political move. "The Bush administration has been sceptical about global warming, and the EPA administrator is a Bush appointee," he said.

The EPA declined comment on the decision, but is now facing attempts from several quarters to overturn the decision. In addition to the bills proposed in Congress and the Senate, California and a coalition of other states and environmental groups are suing against the decision.

However, the EPA is being more co-operative with green campaigners in other areas falling under the Clean Air Act. Following a lawsuit by eight states filed last year, it is said to be reconsidering mercury emissions limits at older cement kilns. Previous regulations imposed harsher limits for new kilns than for old ones, reports say, but the states argue that the Clean Air Act calls for limits at all cement kilns.