Bush fuel economy rules swipe at California Plan says only U.S. regulates emissions

When the Bush administration announced proposed regulations Tuesday to raise fuel economy standards for cars and trucks to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, even some environmentalists applauded. But then they read the fine print.

Tucked deep into a 417-page "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" was language by the Transportation Department stating that more stringent limits on tailpipe emissions embraced by California and 17 other states are "an obstacle to the accomplishment" of the new federal standards and are "expressly and impliedly preempted" by federal law.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown called it a covert assault on California's rules. Environmentalists said the language will be used by automakers in their legal challenges to two recent federal court rulings that sided with the states.

The language showed that beneath the bipartisan veneer of support for new fuel economy standards - approved by Congress and signed by President Bush in December - the conflict is still raging between the White House and the states over who will set the nation's first limits on greenhouse gases.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who announced the proposed rules Tuesday, acknowledged that the preemption language was included in the document.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has fiercely defended its role as the only government entity with the authority to set fuel economy standards for cars and trucks. Agency officials believe the law passed last year - which mandated an increase in fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 - reinforced the department's power.

National standards

"It's the belief of the department that by legislating national fuel economy standards that Congress wants national fuel economy standards," said Brian Turmail, a Transportation Department spokesman.

But that view rankles California officials, who noted that during the debate last fall, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, won assurances that the bill would be neutral on whether California and other states could proceed with their own rules.

The Supreme Court ruled in the Massachusetts vs. EPA case last year that the Transportation Department's authority to set fuel economy standards should not impede other efforts under the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gases. California traditionally has had special authority under the Clean Air Act to set limits on air pollutants that are tougher than federal standards.

A federal judge in Vermont ruled in September that the state rules do not conflict with federal mileage standards, and a Fresno court in December found that both California and the EPA are empowered to set limits on vehicle emissions.

'Respectfully disagree'

In its new document, the Transportation Department said, "We respectfully disagree with the two district court rulings" and noted that an appeal has been filed by automakers.

Agency officials wrote that the new fuel economy standards had increased the conflict between state regulations and federal law. They added: "A conflict between state and federal law arises when compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility or when state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress."

The agency said it is considering adding language to its final rule stating that "any state regulation regulating tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles is expressly preempted" under federal law.

Roland Hwang, the vehicles policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the document appeared to be an effort to bolster the legal case of the auto industry.

"We fully expect to see this rule being quoted by the automakers in their court cases in trying to overturn the Fresno and Vermont decisions," Hwang said. "It's the same argument we're hearing from the automakers."

Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, rejected the idea that the administration is coordinating with the industry.

"It's consistent with the federal government's position all along," Territo said, pointing to the EPA's decision in December to deny California's request for a waiver to implement its rules.

California officials said there's a reason the industry opposes its efforts: While the new federal standards would raise fuel economy to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, California's rules would require the U.S. vehicle fleet to get 36 miles per gallon by 2015.

'Shameful and unlawful'

"This fuel economy plan, while attractive on the surface, is a shameful and unlawful assault on California's landmark vehicle emissions standard," Brown said Tuesday.

Pelosi, who pushed the fuel economy bill through the House, praised the Transportation Department for taking the first step of implementing the new federal rules. But she chastised the agency for trying to undermine tougher state regulations.

"Despite two federal court rulings and Congress' decision to reject the administration's position that enacted energy legislation should preempt the authority of states to regulate greenhouse gas vehicle emissions, the administration has chosen to trot out the same tired old arguments," she said.