Copyright 1999 Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.
THE ARIZONA
REPUBLIC
December 22, 1999 Wednesday, Final Chaser
SECTION: FRONT; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 661 words
HEADLINE:
EMISSION RULES TO GET TOUGH
BYLINE: Republic news
services; Compiled from reports by the Associated Press and Gannett News
Services.
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
President Clinton on Tuesday announced tough
new air pollution standards aimed primarily at cleaning up the sport-utility
vehicles and pickup trucks that Americans drive.
The new
regulations are aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions by about
90 percent over a five-year period by requiring carmakers to make cleaner, more
fuel-efficient engines and drivers to burn cleaner gasoline.
The rules for engines would take effect in 2004. For the first time, those
standards would apply to popular gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles, minivans
and pickup trucks, which create three to five times as much pollution as the
average passenger car. Half the new vehicles sold today are SUVs, minivans or
pickups. The new standards would cut their emissions by as much as 95 percent.
At the same time, Clinton announced new fuel standards requiring oil
refiners to reduce the amount of sulfur in
gasoline by as much as 90 percent. Sulfur
destroys the effectiveness of catalytic converters - the smog-control equipment
that automakers install in cars.
Consumers will pay about $100 more for
cars and $200 more for SUVs and light trucks as a result of the tougher
standards, according to estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Gasoline prices could rise by 1 or 2 cents a gallon, the EPA
says. Oil refiners predict that prices could go higher - 3 to 5 cents more per
gallon.
Driving now accounts for 30 percent of the nation's air
pollution, Clinton said. Although a typical new car is 95 percent less polluting
than a new car was in 1970, there are twice as many cars on the road today and
the number of miles driven each year continues to grow.
"Unless we take
additional measures, air quality in many parts of our country will continue to
worsen in the coming decades," the president said.
Environmentalists
hailed Clinton's announcement, and auto industry officials said they can live
with the new requirements and will not fight them.
The new fuel
efficiency standards are "a tough challenge for the auto industry," said Gregory
Dana, vice president of environmental affairs for the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers.
"But we think it's achievable with the right kind of
help," Dana said.
What helps most is requiring oil refiners to reduce
the sulfur content of their gasoline, Dana
said. He said sulfur is "poison" to catalytic converters,
destroying their effectiveness. The air pollution equipment in cars works much
better in California, where reduced-sulfur gasoline already is
the norm.
"Our only real disappointment today is that they didn't
require even greater sulfur reductions," Dana said.
But
oil refiners said they will have a hard time meeting the Clinton
administration's goal of reducing sulfur by 90 percent by 2006.
"The refining industry supports reductions in gasoline
sulfur," said Bob Slaughter, general counsel for the National
Petrochemical and Refiners Association.
"But the president's proposal is
very ambitious and aggressive and requires us to do a lot in a relatively short
period of time," he said. "It will remain very difficult to reach those numbers
by the 2004-2006 time frame, but the industry will try to do it."
If
refiners conclude that it is impossible to reach those goals in such a short
time while maintaining an adequate supply of gasoline, they
will lobby Congress and the administration for an extension.
"I don't
think people are going to be rushing to Capitol Hill for relief," Slaughter
said. "I think we're all going to have to take a quiet moment and see whether
this is workable or not."
Environmentalists and automakers said they
don't think subsequent administrations or legislators will try to dismantle the
new regulations.
"I think we're always going to have to
be on our guard to make sure these standards aren't undermined," O'Donnell said.
"But I think the reality is that clean air is a popular issue with the public,
and it will be very tough for opponents to undo this."
GRAPHIC: Chart; FYI
Pollution solution
Highlights of tightened automobile emissions standards announced by
President
Clinton on Tuesday:
REFINERS: Most refiners
have until 2006 to meet the new sulfur standard for
gasoline of an average of 30 parts per million. The average
is currently 10
times that, or about 300 parts per million. Small refiners
meeting additional
criteria will have another two years.
CARS: Cars must meet a fleetwide average of 0.07 grams per
mile for
nitrogen oxides, a prime component of smog, starting with 25
percent of the
fleet in 2004 and reaching 100 percent by 2007.
LIGHT TRUCKS: Light trucks - SUVs, minivans, vans and
pickups - must meet
the same fleetwide average as cars, 0.07, by 2009. All
SUVs are included, even
the heaviest ones such as the Ford Excursion and
General Motors Suburban that
can weigh over 8,500 pounds. The standard
excludes the heaviest commercial
pickups and commuter vans.
PHASE-IN: Starting in 2004, 25 percent more cars will be
required to meet
the new 0.07 standard each year until the phase-in is
completed in 2007.
Light trucks must meet the current
standard for cars of 0.6 grams per mile
for nitrogen oxides by 2004, and 25
percent more light trucks must meet 0.2
grams per mile of nitrogen oxides
each year through 2007. By 2009, all light
trucks up to 8,500 pounds and
SUVs up to 10,000 pounds must meet the 0.07
standard.
LOAD-DATE: January 13, 2000
