Strict EPA Rules for 2027–2032 Vehicles Are Expected This Week

• The EPA regulates and lowers the quantity of emissions that can spew from the transportation network—in effect, raising fuel economy requirements—and the next stage will be announced Wednesday, according to insiders.
• The new rules will affect model year 2027 through 2032 vehicles and do not ban internal-combustion engines or force EV purchases.
• Similar fuel-economy regulations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are also expected this month.

Cleaner air and more electric vehicles are the goals of a move expected next week when the Biden Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reportedly will announce what insiders are already calling the toughest-ever emissions rules for new cars and light trucks. The Associated Press reported on the planned announcement, having talked to people familiar with details of the proposal and who asked not to be named because it hasn’t yet been made public.

This Is Not a Gas-Engine Ban

What the new rules won’t do is ban new internal-combustion-engine vehicles outright or force people to buy electric vehicles. Instead, they’d the next logical step in the U.S. government’s overall push to clean up our transportation system. President Biden’s official target is for half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles, which for the government means all-electric, plug-in-hybrid, or fuel-cell vehicles.

The stricter rules will affect model year 2027–2032 vehicles and deal with carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and other greenhouse gas emissions.