California upholds clean car rule

LEON DROUIN KEITH, The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (September 9, 2000 1:19 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - California air-quality regulators have voted to keep a rule that requires zero emissions from up to 10 percent of new cars and light trucks sold in the state, despite industry objections that it would be too costly.

But the state Air Resources Board also directed its staff to find ways to make that goal achievable as it voted unanimously Thursday to retain the rule.

"Our future depends on the continuing march to zero-emission vehicles," said board chairman Alan C. Lloyd. "We need to stay the course.

The rule would take effect with 2003 models and require that thousands of the cars or light trucks be battery-powered electric vehicles, though manufacturers could meet up to 60 percent of the requirement with low-emission cars. Five of Nissan's super-low-polluting Sentras, for example, would count as one zero-emission vehicle.

The agency estimates the rule would increase the number of electric cars on the road about tenfold, from 2,300 to 22,000 in the next three years.

The decision has implications for at least four other states - New York, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont - that have matched California's requirement. The federal Clean Air Act gives states the choice of following federal emission requirements or adopting California's tougher standards.

Environmentalists praised the board's decision and said they were confident any rule changes would be minor. The board is to consider the proposed modifications in January.

"It's like a tune-up of the program, not a major overhaul," said Roland Hwang, transportation program co-director for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Industry officials said they got the message, and added that they were heartened that board was seeking ways to make electric cars affordable without subjecting automakers to huge losses.

"It's been a dream for Californians for some time to have zero-emission vehicles on the road," said Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. "I think they just reaffirmed the dream."

But she added that California is in for a case of "EV sticker shock" as more vehicles hit the sales lots. An air board study estimates that electric vehicles cost $7,500 to $20,000 more than their gas-guzzling equivalents.

"I think it's a train wreck waiting to happen," said Samuel A. Leonard, a director of the public policy center at General Motors Corp.

The state has scaled back its zero-emission requirements twice since they were adopted in 1990. Originally, the regulations required that nonpolluting vehicles make up 2 percent of a manufacturer's fleet of new cars starting in 1998, 5 percent in 2001 and 10 percent in 2003.

In 1996, after a campaign by auto and oil companies, the board dropped the 1998 and 2001 requirements. In 1998 it voted to let manufacturers meet part of the 2003 requirement - up to 6 percent - by selling "super ultra low-emission vehicles." So far, only the Sentra qualifies.

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