Bush fuel economy rules swipe at California – San Francisco Chronicle
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. 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. 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. 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. Agency officials wrote that the new fuel economy standards had increased the conflict between state regulations and federal law. 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. read more
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