Copyright 1999 The Atlanta Constitution
The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution
February 19, 1999, Friday, CONSTITUTION
EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 01A
LENGTH: 450 words
SERIES: Home
HEADLINE: Ga. officials hopeful for SUV emissions
limits
BYLINE: David Goldberg
BODY:
Smog-plagued areas of Georgia would
get federal backing in meeting air quality standards under tough, nationwide
vehicle-emissions limits under consideration by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
The EPA is set to propose tighter standards for sport
utility and other heavy vehicles, which currently face far less stringent limits
than passenger cars, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
The EPA is
expected to submit a draft of the proposed regulations within
days for final review by the White House, the AP said, citing unnamed sources.
The package would require oil companies to produce cleaner
gasoline by cutting sulfur content by better
than 90 percent. In Georgia, state environmental officials said tighter
pollution rules for motor vehicles and for gasoline are
essential if metro Atlanta and other areas are to meet federal health standards
for smog and microscopic soot.
"Georgia was one of the states that urged
the EPA to adopt low-sulfur gasoline and stricter tailpipe
standards nationwide," said Harold Reheis, director of the Georgia Environmental
Protection Division. "If they're thinking about tightening standards for SUVs, I
think that's great."
About a third of the vehicles in metro Atlanta are
SUVs, pickups or vans. Their heavier engines have had to meet less stringent
emissions targets than passenger cars, said Marlin Gottschalk, who heads EPD's
emissions testing program.
The EPA proposal specifies nationwide
tailpipe emission standards similar to those adopted for 2004 by California,
according to industry and environmental sources briefed on the draft proposal.
Vehicle fleets would have to reduce emissions of smog-causing chemicals by
almost 90 percent from those of today's vehicles.
For the first time,
SUVs, pickups and minivans would be required to meet about the same emissions
caps as cars, but they would be given two more years of phase-in time.
While Ford has touted its SUVs as being as clean as today's cars, many
of the larger SUVs emit three to four times as much smog-causing pollution as
cars, experts say.
In metro Atlanta, highway sources account for about
half the emissions of nitrogen oxide, the critical component of smog formation
in the region. The rapid growth in miles driven in the area, coupled with the
surge in SUVs and other heavier vehicles, has presented a huge challenge to
officials trying to meet air quality standards.
Under federal law,
Atlanta was to have met smog standards this year, but state officials
acknowledge that will be impossible. The region will be unable to spend federal
funds on new road projects until it has a federally approved plan to meet
vehicle emissions targets.
LOAD-DATE: February 19,
1999 
