EPA moving to back off on fuel standards

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will formally lay out a plan as early as next week to revisit strict fueleconomy standards that had been set in motion under President Barack Obama, according to Andrew Wheeler, the new acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Automakers, state officials, environmentalists and federal regulators had agreed in 2012 to increase vehicle efficiency to an average 34.5 mpg by 2016 across the fleet of American cars and trucks, with the standard then slated to rise yearly until it hits 54.5 mpg by the end of 2025.

In an interview Thursday with USA TODAY, Wheeler argued that Obama acted prematurely when he increased the fuel-efficiency requirements before leaving office in 2017 and that the issue needs additional review.

“They jumped the gun,” Wheeler said. “It was a political attempt to try to move up the process, and what we’re doing is taking the deliberative process of looking at the midyear review the way it was originally intended to be done.”

The EPA is expected to make an announcement with the Department of Transportation offering alternatives to the scheduled fuel-efficiency standards. Wheeler, who took over from former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt this month, said the announcement is “probably coming out next week.”

“We’re proposing a list of options. We have a preferred option, but I don’t want to get ahead of the actual proposal before it goes out,” he said.

The move is likely to be welcomed by U.S. automakers but will set up a fight with environmental groups and California, the most populous state and a leader in fuel efficiency.

President Donald Trump has long made it clear he wanted to revisit the Obama-era mileage policies, and in April, Pruitt said the administration would begin the process, but he gave no details.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers had sought a withdrawal of the higher fuel standards, arguing they would impose hefty costs and limit consumer options.