EPA Moves to Delay Critical Clean Air Standards for New Vehicles
Two-year delay of light-duty vehicle pollution rule would put thousands of lives at risk and cost billions of dollars
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed to delay by two years the Model Year 2027 and Later Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicle Criteria Pollutant Rule — a life-saving standard that would slash tailpipe pollution of nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds from millions of new cars and trucks. In response, Will Anderson, zero emissions vehicle policy advocate with Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:
“Delaying these standards is not some kind of regulatory technicality—it is a decision to let people’s health suffer. Each year protections are pushed back, communities near highways and freight corridors—disproportionately low-income families and communities of color—will continue breathing air that triggers asthma attacks, causes heart attacks, and cuts lives short.
“EPA’s own modeling shows that the threatened light- and medium-duty criteria pollutant standards, together with the heavy-duty nitrogen oxide standards, would prevent more than 50,000 premature deaths, 85,000 hospital and emergency room visits, 25 million asthma attacks, and 15 million lost school and work days through 2055. The threatened delay in implementing the standards would pump more than 5 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 165,000 tons of fine particulate matter, and 2 million tons of volatile organic compounds into the air Americans breathe. This Administration must reject this reckless proposal.”
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