The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced final national pollution standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032 and beyond. According to the press release from the EPA, these standards will avoid more than 7 billion tons of carbon emissions and provide nearly $100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, and $62 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and maintenance and repair costs for drivers. The final standards deliver on the significant pollution reductions outlined in the proposed rule, while accelerating the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies. EPA is finalizing this rule as sales of clean vehicles, including plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, hit record highs last year.
EPA projects an increase in U.S. auto manufacturing employment in response to these final standards. Under the Biden-Harris administration, companies have announced more than $160 billion in investment in U.S. clean vehicle manufacturing and the U.S. auto manufacturing sector has added more than 100,000 jobs.
The final standards announced, the “Multi Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles,” build on EPA’s existing emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026. The standards continue the technology-neutral and performance-based design of previous EPA standards for cars, pickups, and vans, and leverage advances in clean car technologies to further reduce both climate pollution and smog- and soot-forming emissions. EPA is finalizing the same standard proposed for MY 2032 while allowing additional time for the auto sector to scale up clean vehicle manufacturing supply chains in the first three years covered by the rule.
For more information or to read the full standards, visit EPA's website.
