US finalizes tougher new tailpipe emissions limits for heavy duty vehicles

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday said it was finalizing stringent new tailpipe emissions standards for heavy duty vehicles like semi-trucks and buses.

The EPA said the new rules setting standards for the 2027 through 2032 model years will avoid 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and provide $13 billion in annualized net benefits to society.

Heavy duty vehicles account for 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for about 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA said the standards "are technology-neutral and performance-based, allowing each manufacturer to choose what set of emissions control technologies is best suited for them and the needs of their customers."

The new standards apply to delivery trucks, garbage trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, and school buses and tractor-trailer trucks.

The EPA said the final rule "provides more time in the early model years of the program for the development of vehicle technologies and deployment of charging and refueling infrastructure" and flexibilities that will assist manufacturers in meeting the standards in the early years."

Current tailpipe emissions limits for heavy duty trucks and engines were set in 2016 covering the 2021 through 2027 model years.

Last week, the EPA finalized emissions rules for light and medium duty vehicles through 2032, cutting its target for U.S. electric vehicle adoption from 67% by 2032 to as little as 35%.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Susan Fenton)