After eliminating the electric vehicle tax credit, rolling back fuel economy standards and blocking California’s stringent vehicle emissions rules, the Trump administration is now citing slowed electric vehicle growth as its rationale for loosening automobile air pollution standards.
In a rulemaking proposal released Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to delay the adoption of Biden-era Tier 4 air pollution standards for passenger cars and trucks and, going forward, to reconsider them.
The agency said that the proposed change is in response to “the overwhelming rejection of Electric Vehicles (EVs) by the American people and manufacturers shifting away from them.” It comes amid debate over environmental regulation and the influence of industry interests in the Trump administration.
Established in April 2024, the Tier 4 Criteria Pollutant Standards represent the most recent batch of vehicle emissions standards adopted under the Clean Air Act. The standards would have required manufacturers to meet fleet-average limits on smog-producing volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter tailpipe emissions, with phase-in beginning in 2027.
