Panel Backs Emissions Standards

An independent panel of engineers and health and public policy experts assembled by the National Research Council has concluded that the nation will benefit if California remains free to set automobile emissions standards that are more restrictive than federal rules.

The council's panel, which conducted the study at the request of GOP lawmakers angry about California's stringent standards for cars, trucks and other vehicles, concluded the current system has advantages for all Americans. California has had a special exemption from federal law since 1967, in part because the state has suffered from serious air pollution for decades.

"California should continue its pioneering role in setting mobile-source emissions standards," the 11-member panel wrote. "The role will aid the state's efforts to achieve air quality goals and will allow it to continue to be a proving ground for new emissions-control technologies that benefit California and the rest of the nation." The council is a branch of the National Academies, chartered by Congress as the official adviser to the government on science and technology.

Panel member Gary Marchant, a law professor at Arizona State University, said the group concluded the net benefits "of having this laboratory outweighed the costs" to manufacturers and consumers.

Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Washington-based Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said the industry is pleased the report recognized today's cars and trucks are 99 percent cleaner than they were 30 years ago. Although auto manufacturers "would prefer a national standard" on emissions rather than allowing California to go further, the industry "accepts that's the reality of the situation."

California has inspired controversy by pushing for controls on emissions linked to global warming, which federal laws do not address. One new rule requires automakers to reduce "greenhouse gas" emissions from vehicles by 30 percent by 2016. Nine other states have adopted a similar provision. Automakers are challenging the rule in court.

The committee also endorsed another California regulation awaiting approval by the Environmental Protection Agency, which would require manufacturers of lawnmowers and other small engines to install catalytic converters to cut polluting emissions. The committee said California "should continue its pioneering role when setting emissions standards for small engines."

Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), who has factories of small engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton Corp. in his state, has delayed EPA approval of California's small engine rules on the grounds that catalytic converters could pose a safety threat. The EPA is set to issue a report today evaluating whether putting converters on lawnmowers and leaf blowers creates a hazard.

Bond spokesman Rob Ostrander said the NRC study "found that while the costs of California's own requirements do fall on other states, California does not consider the costs of its own requirements on other states."