The Senate amended and passed Senate Bill 1025 (Madigan-R-Bradford) to establish a Clean Vehicle Program that gives automakers two options to comply— use the California II or federal Tier II vehicle emissions standards.

The legislation follows the same structure as the Clean Vehicle Program now in regulation, except for updating the rule to provide the California II vehicle emission standard option.

Automakers now comply with the federal Tier II vehicle standard and this is the only vehicle emission standard for which the state now takes credit under its clean air plans.

The option to use the California II vehicle standard would start with vehicle model year 2008, like in the proposed regulation the Department of Environmental Protection published for comment on February 11.

Any actual clean air benefits from the California II standards would not happen until sufficient numbers of the new vehicles would start entering Pennsylvania’s vehicle fleet— in about 2013 or 2015—well after the 2010 federal deadline to comply with the 8-hour ozone standard.

The bill also directs the Department of Environmental Protection to form stakeholder groups in areas not expected to meet the 2010 deadline for complying with the federal ozone standard to make recommendations on meeting that standard from mobile or stationary sources of air pollution.

Stakeholder groups formed by DEP are to include fair representation from motorist, public health, environmental, public utility, automotive manufacturers, business and industry organizations and local, state and federal officials.

Action on the bill follows a Senate hearing on this topic in December and more recently in the House. The bill now moves to the House.

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2/17/2006