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Proposed regulations will deliver cleaner air, slash greenhouse
gases, rapidly increase numbers of zero-emissions vehicles. 

Release #:11-49
Date:11/16/2011

ARB PIO: (916) 322-2990
CONTACT:

Stanley Young
916-322-1309
916-956-9409(C)
syoung@arb.ca.gov


California Announces Groundbreaking Advanced Clean Car Rules

Proposed regulations will deliver cleaner air, slash greenhouse
gases, rapidly increase numbers of zero-emissions vehicles

SACRAMENTO - Today the California Air Resources Board released a
comprehensive summary of its proposed Advanced Clean Cars
regulation package, setting tough new emissions standards for
cars and light trucks from 2015 through 2025.

The package continues California’s leadership role in developing
innovative and ground breaking standards for vehicles. It is
designed to clean the air, fight climate change, deliver savings
to consumers and drive job development in California. Thanks to
the rules, vehicles sold in 2025 will cut fuel costs at the pump
by at least 40 percent along with a 50 percent reduction in the
quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.

“California once again leads the nation in setting the toughest
standards that will deliver the cleanest vehicles,” said ARB
Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “This package assures the development
of environmentally superior cars that will continue to deliver
the performance, utility, and safety vehicle owners have come to
expect.”

The Advanced Clean Cars program combines the control of smog- and
soot causing pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions into a
single coordinated package of requirements for model years 2015
through 2025.  The package also includes a zero-emission vehicle
mandate as the focused technology-forcing element, requiring
manufacturers to produce increasing numbers of zero-emission
vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the 2018-2025
model years.

“California’s groundbreaking requirement for steadily increasing
numbers of zero-emission vehicles provides the underpinning we
need for a rapid shift to cars that reduce our dependence on
petroleum and toward cheaper and cleaner alternative domestic
fuels like electricity and hydrogen.”

The Advanced Clean Cars package of regulations is designed to
deliver:  

    * A 47 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025,
compared to today’s levels;
    * A further 75 percent reduction in smog-forming emissions by
2025;
    * One in seven new cars sold in 2025 (15.4 percent) be a
zero-emission or plug-in hybrid vehicle;
    * A total of 1.4 million zero-emission and plug-in hybrid
vehicles on the road in California by 2025;
    * A reduction of 40 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2025,
the equivalent of taking eight million cars off the road; and,
    * A savings of $5 Billion in operating costs in 2025 for
California drivers. This will rise to $10 Billion in 2030 when
more advanced cars are on the road.

The proposed Advanced Clean Car package has been in development
over the past three years and is composed of four separate but
related regulations:

   1. Greenhouse gas standard for cars and light trucks, model
years 2017-2025
      This regulation builds on California’s first-in-the-nation
greenhouse gas standard that was later adopted by the federal
government as part of a national program in 2009.  The current
proposal to strengthen the greenhouse gas standard was developed
in tandem with the federal government over the past three years,
toward accommodating manufacturers’ desire for a single national
program within California’s separate motor vehicle emission
control program. It is designed to parallel the national
greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards rule the U.S. EPA and
the Department of Transport are releasing today under their
coordinated rulemaking.

      The proposed new standard drops greenhouse gas emissions to
166 grams per mile, a reduction of 47 percent from current
levels. This will be achieved through existing technologies (such
as hybrid cars), the use of stronger and lighter materials, and
more efficient drivetrains and engines.

   2. Reducing Smog-Forming Emissions
      California will need to reduce smog-forming pollution by an
additional 75 percent from 2016 levels to help meet more
stringent federal air quality standards expected in the next few
years. Since California continues to have the nation’s worst air
quality, and has more than 26 million cars on the road, it is
necessary to further reduce smog-forming pollution from cars.
This regulation will drive the development of the cleanest cars
yet that use today’s diesel, gasoline-powered, or typical
gas-electric hybrid internal combustion engines.

   3. Zero Emissions Vehicle Regulation
      This regulation builds on the program in place since 1990
and is designed to rapidly increase ZEV production to early
commercial volumes, establishing a sustainable and growing market
for these advanced technology vehicles. This will place
California on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by
2050, a goal adopted by many nations and believed necessary to
stabilize climate temperature.

      ARB analysis demonstrates that the ZEV regulation is
required to put 1.4 million ZEVs on the road by 2025 (15.4
percent of new vehicle sales in that year) in order to be on
track to reach the 2050 greenhouse gas reduction goal. A
transitional model – the plug-in hybrid car – will play a
significant role over the next twenty years but by mid-century,
87 percent of cars on the road will need to be full zero-emission
vehicles to achieve our climate goals.

   4. Clean Fuel Outlets
      This regulation is designed to address the pending
commercialization of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by
requiring the construction of hydrogen fueling stations.
Construction of the new stations will provide a convenient
fueling infrastructure, first within the major air basins but
ultimately throughout the state.


A summary of the Advanced Clean Car regulation will be posted
later today at:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/clean_cars/clean_cars.htm .

ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare,
and ecological resources through effective reduction of air
pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the
economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in
California to attain and maintain health based air quality
standards.

Office of Communications 1001 I Street, Sacramento CA 95814. Ph:
(916) 322-2990