The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation proposed new rules Friday that seek to raise emissions standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, cutting the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of the targeted vehicles by almost 25%.
The Obama administration expects the proposal to lower CO2 emissions by as much as 1 billion metric tons over the lifetime of the vehicles sold under the new rules, which cover model years 2021-2027. That’s equal to all of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by U.S. residences’ energy use in one year, according to the joint EPA-DOT release.
These standards build on previous ones enacted by the Administration governing model years 2014-2018. The EPA and DOT say that those standards have been successful so far, adding that the increased fuel efficiency of the vehicles has helped boost automotive sales in 2014 and 2015.
The proposal has not yet been finalized, that process could be completed sometime next year.