Trump set to roll back federal fuel-economy requirements

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is moving to roll back federal fueleconomy requirements that would have forced automakers to increase significantly the efficiency of new cars and trucks, a key part of former President Barack Obama’s strategy to combat global warming.

The Environmental Protection Agency is close to an announcement reversing a decision made in the waning days of the Obama administration to lock in strict gas mileage requirements for cars and light trucks through 2025.

Automakers asked EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to discard a Jan. 13 decision that requires the fleet of new cars to average a real-world figure of 36 miles per gallon.

The automakers said the Obama rules could add thousands of dollars to the price of new cars and cost more than a million jobs.

Lawmakers, industry groups and environmentalists say the administration has signaled it plans to take this step. An announcement could come as early as this week, although changes in the standards could take years to fully implement.

A decision to review the Obama rule sets up a potential legal battle with California and other states that have adopted tough tailpipe standards for drivers. California has received a waiver allowing the state to enforce its standards, which have also been adopted by 12 other states, including New York and Massachusetts.

The White House and the EPA declined to comment.

“Attacking the California waiver is a recipe for chaos,” said Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who has pushed for higher fuel standards. California and other states that have adopted its standard will almost certainly file a legal challenge if pushed by the EPA, Markey and other lawmakers said.

“The auto companies don’t want 50 state standards,” he said.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., called her state “a model for the country” on environmental standards and said she strongly opposes any attempt to “roll back the progress we’ve made. That’s counterproductive and could absolutely be harmful to the health and well-being of the residents of our state and the people of our nation.”

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents a dozen major car manufacturers, including General Motors, Ford and Toyota, declined to comment.

But in a Feb. 21 letter to Pruitt, the group said the EPA’s Jan. 13 decision on fuel economy “may be the single most important decision that EPA has made in recent history.” The alliance urged Pruitt to reconsider the plan, which it said could “depress an industry that can ill-afford spiraling regulatory costs.”

The automakers estimated they would have to spend a “staggering” $200 billion between 2012 and 2025 to comply with the tailpipe emissions rule — far more than industry would spend under the Clean Power Plan, Obama’s signature effort to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. Trump is also expected to roll back the power-plant rule in coming days.

Markey and other Democratic senators criticized the EPA emissions review before it has even been issued.

“President Trump is waging a war on the environment, and he wants EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to make our strong fuel economy emissions standards his latest victim,” Markey said at a news conference Tuesday.