EPA to Hold Three-Day Hearing This Week on Clean Car Rules

May 09, 2023

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by Mike Lee (E&E News Climatewire) Environmentalists have argued that EPA should adopt stricter standards that would lead to more electrification. -- Public health concerns are expected to take center stage this week at public hearings EPA has scheduled for its proposed greenhouse gas standards for cars and light trucks.

EPA plans to take testimony from more than 200 people at the three-day virtual hearing, which begins Tuesday. The agency projects the regulation will cause two-thirds of vehicles to be emissions free by 2032.

Environmentalists have argued that EPA should adopt stricter standards that would lead to more electrification. They say the Biden administration already has laid the groundwork for this push with the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

The two pieces of legislation have steered billions of dollars to build public charging stations, encourage drivers buy the cars and help manufacturers pay for new assembly plants and battery factories.

In addition to cutting greenhouse gases, there are health benefits to putting more electric vehicles on the road. For example, more EVs means there's less discharge of other pollutants that contribute to diseases such as asthma, said speakers at a panel discussion on Monday that was sponsored by the Zero Emissions Transportation Association. READ MORE

Proposed Rule: Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles (Environmental Protection Agency)

Proposed Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3 (Environmental Protection Agency)

Ethanol Blog: Ethanol Groups Tell EPA Ethanol Key Part of Emissions Reduction in Transportation Fuels (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Groups urge EPA to recognize the low-carbon benefits of ethanol (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

RFA Urges Tech-Neutral Solutions for Vehicle Emission Reductions (Renewable Fuels Association)

Manchin will oppose EPA nominees to protest climate rule (E&E News Greenwire)

US oil lobby blasts EPA emissions cuts plan, California likes it (Reuters)

American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings joins us to talk about his testimony at an EPA hearing yesterday about EVs and alternate solutions for cleaner energy that are ready to go right now, including ethanol. (AgriTalk)

Excerpt from Environmental Protection Agency: On April 12, 2023, EPA announced new, more ambitious proposed standards to further reduce harmful air pollutant emissions from light-duty and medium-duty vehicles starting with model year 2027. The proposal builds upon EPA’s final standards for federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026 and leverages advances in clean car technology to unlock benefits to Americans ranging from reducing climate pollution, to improving public health, to saving drivers money through reduced fuel and maintenance costs. The proposed standards would phase in over model years 2027 through 2032.

Proposed Rule: Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles (pdf) (4.9 MB, published May 5, 2023)

Comment and Public Hearing Information:

To view documents supporting this proposed rulemaking as well as comments submitted, please visit regulations.gov and access the rule under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829.

EPA plans to hold a virtual public hearing for this proposed rule, Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles. Speaker blocks are shown below. A list of pre-registered speakers is available below.

The first day (May 9) will run from 10:00am to 7:00pm EDT, the second day (May 10) will run from 1:00pm to 10:00pm EDT, and the third day will start at 10:00am EDT, and will run until noon, or until all registered testifiers have had a chance to speak. The time blocks are below:

Session 1 – Tuesday, May 9th, 10:00am -12:00pm EDT (Spanish translation available).
Session 2 – Tuesday, May 9th, 1:00pm - 5:00pm EDT (Spanish translation available).
Session 3 – Tuesday, May 9th, 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT.
Session 4 – Wednesday, May 10th, 1:00pm - 4:00pm EDT.
Session 5 – Wednesday, May 10th, 5:00pm - 7:00pm EDT (Spanish translation available).
Session 6 – Wednesday, May 10th, 8:00pm - 10:00pm EDT (Spanish translation available).
Session 7 – Thursday, May 11th, 10:00am – 12:00pm EDT (or until all registered testifiers have had a chance to speak).

List of speakers (pdf) (797.93 KB, May 2023) .

Registration will remain open through the last day of the hearing. To the extent possible, EPA will work to accommodate late requests. Any new registrations are now being scheduled for a time on May 11. All attendees (including those who will not be presenting verbal testimony) must register. Please submit a separate registration form for each person attending the hearing. More information on how to join the hearing will be sent to the email address that you provide for registration.

To register, please send an email to EPA-LD-hearings@epa.gov. Additional information can be found in the Federal Register notice for the hearing (see below)

Public Hearing Notice for Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles (pdf) (226 KB, published April 24, 2023) READ MORE

Excerpt from Environmental Protection Agency: On April 12, 2023, EPA announced a proposal for more stringent standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty (HD) vehicles beginning in model year (MY) 2027. The new standards would be applicable to HD vocational vehicles (such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, school buses, etc.) and tractors (such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks).

Specifically, EPA is proposing stronger CO₂ standards for MY 2027 HD vehicles that go beyond the current standards that apply under the HD Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas program. EPA is also is proposing an additional set of CO₂ standards for HD vehicles that would begin to apply in MY 2028, with progressively lower standards each model year through 2032. This proposed “Phase 3” greenhouse gas program maintains the flexible structure created in EPA’s Phase 2 greenhouse gas program, which is designed to reflect the diverse nature of the heavy-duty industry.

As part of this action, EPA also is proposing to revise its regulations addressing preemption of state regulation of locomotives.

Proposed Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles - Phase 3 (pdf) (4.0 MB, published April 27, 2023)

Comment and Public Hearing Information:

To view documents supporting this proposed rulemaking as well as comments submitted, please visit regulations.gov and access the rule under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0985. READ MORE

Excerpt from DTN Progressive Farmer: Ethanol interest groups call on the EPA to adopt a technology-neutral approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions in vehicles, in testimony given to the agency this week on the Biden administration's proposed change to emissions standards that would force the use of more electric vehicles in the next decade.

...

Two ethanol groups offered testimony on Tuesday, calling on the EPA to use the GHG reductions ethanol can bring as part of the rule.

In written comments submitted to the agency, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper called on the EPA to use "honest carbon accounting" and to adopt a technology-neutral approach.

"RFA shares the Biden administration's goals of increasing vehicle efficiency and reducing carbon emissions," Cooper said.

"However, we strongly disagree with regulatory approaches that arbitrarily pick technology winners and losers. Unfortunately, that's exactly what this proposed rule would do."

The RFA said at issue is the agency's proposal allowing electric-vehicle manufacturers to use a zero grams-per-mile emissions compliance value for EVs.

...

"This approach falsely assumes EVs have no carbon impacts whatsoever and ignores the upstream emissions related to electricity generation, as well as the substantial emissions involved in battery mineral extraction and vehicle construction," RFA said in its comments.

"We strongly oppose EPA's proposal to exclude upstream emissions in the GHG accounting."

Cooper told the agency that the administration's own research shows high-octane, low-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol can immediately deliver "dramatic" improvements in fuel efficiency and carbon performance when paired with the right engine technologies.

"We urge EPA to reconsider its proposal and instead adopt a technology-neutral approach that treats all low-carbon transportation options fairly and equally, and we ask that EPA use this rulemaking to establish a roadmap for increasing the required minimum-octane rating of our nation's light-duty vehicle fuel," Cooper said.

American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings also testified on Tuesday.

Jennings said EPA should give more consideration to ethanol to replace the fossil-fuel-powering 99% of the U.S. vehicle fleet. In addition, he pointed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change finding that 89% of the world's capacity to mitigate carbon emissions comes from agricultural soil carbon sequestration.

"Understanding this enormous potential, ACE is leading a project to more accurately validate the degree to which farmer adoption of practices, such as reduced tillage and cover crops, reduce ethanol's lifecycle GHG emissions," Jennings said in his prepared testimony.

"Unfortunately, the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard does not yet allow carbon credits for biofuels produced from climate-smart agriculture, and since EPA's proposal puts all our eggs in one basket, it fails to unlock the significant carbon mitigation potential from agricultural lands and ethanol. We can and should do better. READ MORE

Excerpt from Ethanol Producer Magazine: Growth Energy plans to flag the neglect of biofuels in the proposed rule during its testimony on May 10 and urged the EPA to harness U.S. biofuels to address gaps in the agency’s proposed rule.

“[L]iquid fuels will continue to play a dominant role in the transportation sector now and for decades to come,” Growth Energy Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley will testify. “These fuels and vehicles operate as a system. As such, it is imperative to consider the vital role that environmentally sustainable fuel options, such as ethanol, will play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the current and future vehicle fleet, rather than putting the thumb on the scale for one, single technology.”

Additionally, Bliley will note that “[E]thanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50 percent compared to gasoline and can provide reductions of up to 100 percent with the use of readily available technologies. Ethanol’s other environmental benefits are also noteworthy. As research has shown, the use of more ethanol and ethanol-blended fuel reduces air toxics, such as carbon monoxide, benzene, and other harmful particulates.”

Bliley will specifically call on regulators to accelerate the deployment of E15 nationwide; approve and adopt high-octane, midlevel ethanol blends like E30; expand access to flex fuel vehicles (FFVs) in conjunction with use of E85, and finalize strong Renewable Fuel Standard blend targets for 2023, 2024, 2025 and beyond.

Nearly 250 individuals are already scheduled to provide testimony during the three-day public hearing. Registration will remain open through the last day of the hearing. READ MORE