Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Strengthening Vehicle Pollution Standards

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to strengthen federal clean car standards, which will cut emissions from the transportation sector and help protect our health and our climate. The EPA also announced a proposal to strengthen federal standards that would help clean up pollution from heavy-duty trucks and buses.

The car standards are expected to lead to clean, electric cars making up as much as 67 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the country by 2032. They cover model years 2027 to 2032 for cars and light-duty trucks and represent the next step in the environmental agency’s decades-long arc of regulations to cut vehicle pollution.

The federal truck standards will reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that trucks and buses emit, cleaning up pollution from large vehicles on the roads like transit buses, school buses, delivery trucks, and garbage trucks. In addition to contributing to the climate crisis, these vehicles are a major threat to public health for millions of Americans and especially dangerous for marginalized communities across the nation that live next to major freight corridors.

The transportation sector is the leading source of climate-disrupting pollution in the nation and a major source of air pollution for communities across the nation. Due to the legacy of redlining, communities of color are often most vulnerable to traffic pollution from highways.

“Every single day, millions of Americans are forced to breathe deadly vehicle pollution spewed from combustion vehicles on the road,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous. “Strong federal action to address this devastating reality is a must, and the Sierra Club will continue to mobilize our members and supporters demanding the EPA develop the strongest final vehicle rules possible.”

“We need our most polluting vehicles to electrify as quickly as possible so our communities can breathe clean air, and we know the technology is here to act quickly on moving the nation to 100 percent zero-emission trucks and buses,” said Yassi Kavezade, Senior Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club based in Southern California. “We need the EPA to listen to communities, like mine in California’s Inland Empire suffering firsthand from the relentless traffic of dirty freight, and urgently slash diesel pollution.”

“The clean car standards are a cornerstone of our nation’s clean air strategy,” said Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Director Katherine García. “The age of the polluting vehicle must come to an end for the health of people and the planet, and the proposed standards are an important tool to help us get there. We are ready to urge the EPA to deliver significant emissions reductions that reflect the urgency of our health and climate crises and the increasing competitiveness of electric vehicles.”