The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new proposed federal vehicle emissions standards, according to the organization's news release.

The new standards will accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean vehicle future and will address the climate crisis.

The proposed standards would improve air quality for communities across the U.S. These proposals would avoid nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to more than twice the total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2022, according to the EPA.

“By proposing the most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks, we are delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s promise to protect people and the planet, securing critical reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution and ensuring significant economic benefits like lower fuel and maintenance costs for families,” said EPA administrator Michael S. Regan. “These ambitious standards are readily achievable thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which is already driving historic progress to build more American-made electric cars and secure America’s global competitiveness.” 

The second set of proposed standards announced, the “Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles - Phase 3,” would apply to heavy-duty vocational vehicles (such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers or dump trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, and school buses). 

These standards would complement the criteria pollutant standards for MY 2027 and beyond heavy-duty vehicles that EPA finalized in December 2022 and represent the third phase of EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan.

These “Phase 3” greenhouse gas standards maintain the flexible structure that the EPA previously designed through a stakeholder engagement process. Like the light- and medium-duty proposal, the heavy-duty proposal uses performance-based standards that enable manufacturers to achieve compliance efficiently based on the composition of their fleets.   

The projected net benefits of the heavy-duty proposal range from $180 billion to $320 billion. The proposal is projected to avoid 1.8 billion tons of CO2 through 2055, equivalent to eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions from the entire current U.S. transportation sector for an entire year, and deliver additional health benefits by reducing other pollutants from these vehicles.

The new proposed emissions standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles for model year (MY) 2027 and beyond would reduce climate and other harmful air pollution. The proposed standards aim to lower maintenance costs and deliver fuel savings for drivers.