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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering an "option" that might permit car companies to use weaker pollution control technology on some sport utility vehicles (SUVs) than actually in use today.

Glenn Passavant, senior program manager in EPA's Office of Mobile Sources, outlined what is "being considered" as the agency makes final decisions on new pollution standards for future motor vehicles and fuels. Passavant spoke yesterday at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C.

As reported in today's BNA Daily Environment Report, Passavant said the agency is eyeing stricter clean gasoline standards and stricter standards for passenger cars. But Passavant was quoted as saying that larger sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks (those weighing between 5,750 pounds and 8,500 pounds) would be subject to weaker standards under the EPA plan. He said these bigger vehicles would merely have to meet a looser "national low-emission standard" -- a level that could allow them to pollute nearly five times as much as other vehicles under the scheme he outlined. EPA later clarified that Passavant was merely noting "options" and that no final decisions had been made. An official proposal is expected in the next few months.

However, it's fair to note that health and environmental groups would be bitterly disappointed if EPA cut such a huge pollution break for big SUVs. (California recently decided SUVs would have to meet the same standards as passenger cars.) In some cases, the car companies might actually be allowed to take sophisticated pollution controls off the vehicles! Note that Ford Motor Co. is already selling all of its 1999 model year SUVs as "low-emission" vehicles -- even with the dirty gasoline being sold today. With cleaner gasoline expected in the future, Ford would have to use less effective pollution control technology to meet the same low-emission standard. No wonder the car companies not only leaked Passavant's speech to some media, but were gleeful about the contents.

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