Copyright 1999 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York, NY)
May 1, 1999, Saturday, ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: NEWS; Page A08
LENGTH: 559 words
HEADLINE:
CLINTON SEEKS EMISSIONS CHANGES / TOUGHER RULES WOULD AFFECT SUVS, REFINERS
BYLINE: By Dan Fagin and James Toedtman. STAFF
WRITERS
BODY:
The Clinton administration
is proposing new emission standards that would force sport utility vehicles to
meet the same tough standards as cars. The rules to be announced Saturday would
also require refineries to produce cleaner gasoline.
The standards are the most comprehensive car pollution
regulations since the Clean Air Act was reauthorized in 1990.
Their impact would be particularly acute in Queens and on Long Island, where air
pollution exceeds national standards and SUVs have been particularly popular.
Administration officials estimated that the regulations, to be
phased in from 2004 to 2007, would add 1 to 2 cents to the cost of a gallon of
gas and would raise car and SUVs prices between $ 100 and $ 200. Industry
officials said the costs would be higher.
Administration officials hope
to complete the rulemaking procedure by the end of the year. The proposal
includes these highlights:
-- Refiners would have to reduce
sulfur content in gasoline from over 300 parts
per million to 30. Oil industry officials argued that such a dramatic reduction
would be enormously costly for them - totaling as much as $ 6 billion, according
to William O'Keefe, vice president of the American Petroleum Institute. That
would add 6 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas. "A compelling case for
nationwide fuel standards has not been made," he said.
-- Tailpipe
emissions for cars, minivans and SUVs would have to be reduced nearly 80
percent, from the current .77 grams per mile for nitrous oxides to .07 grams.
-- For the first time automakers would have to include vehicles with a
gross weight of under 8,500 pounds - SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans - in the
mix of vehicles included in determining whether a company's vehicles meet
anti-pollution standards. Current standards for the larger vehicles are two to
three times higher than for cars.
The proposed standards are the result
of intense deliberations involving the administration, environmentalists and the
oil and auto industries. Auto industry officials were delighted to share some of
the impact with oil producers, who would be required to produce cleaner fuel.
Oil industry representatives said they're ready to reduce
sulfur in gasoline, but not as much as the EPA
wants and not nationwide, only in the eastern 22 states where pollution is
greater.
Cars today are 97 percent cleaner than models sold 30 years
ago, but emissions from cars and light trucks still account for one-third to
half of the smog-causing pollution in urban areas as well as releases of
microscopic soot and toxic chemicals, pollution control experts say.
"If
done properly, this decision can lead to tremendously cleaner cars and SUVs for
the next decade and beyond," said Gene Karpinski, executive director of U.S.
Public Interest Research Group, an environmental organization.
The
American Lung Association, which has sued the EPA and pushed the agency to set
stricter air-quality standards for years, hailed the proposals. "It's something
we've been working for for a long time, and we're delighted that the EPA has now
moved in this direction," said Ernie Franck, a retired engineer from Sea Cliff
who was elected national president of the association last week. "We do expect
this will make a big difference in public health on Long Island and the rest of
the country."
LOAD-DATE: May 5, 1999
