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Air Board Seeks Tighter Auto Emission Limits

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TIMES ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER

In 1965, a brand new Chevy Malibu, straight off the factory floor, spewed over half a ton of smog-forming exhaust into the air by the time it was driven 100,000 miles.

Today, that same car model is so advanced that it puts out only about 100 pounds of pollution in its lifetime.

But as clean as modern automobiles are, California officials have not yet ended their push to make them cleaner.

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The state Air Resources Board plans to mandate a new generation of California cars by setting even more aggressive limits on what comes out their tailpipes.

Under a new proposal, all automobiles by 2007 will be required to put out so little pollution that it will take 75 of them to equal the exhaust from a single car built in the 1960s.

California’s cars won’t merely be Low Emission Vehicles. Not just Ultra Low Emission Vehicles. Some will be Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicles--cars that run on gasoline but are almost as clean as electric ones.

Remarkably, if a “super ultra low” car were driven for 100,000 miles, only a single pound of hydrocarbons would trickle out the tailpipe--about the same as spilling a pint of gasoline.

Are there any limits to what California will demand from the internal combustion engine?

Faced with the responsibility of combating pollution in the nation’s smoggiest state, the air board won’t be content until it drives the emissions of gasoline-powered cars almost to zero--a technological advance that was unimaginable just a few years ago but is rapidly becoming reality.

“It’s true we’ve been squeezing that lemon for a long time,” said Air Resources Board Chairman John Dunlap, “but we think there’s a little more left in it. Unless we do more, we cannot achieve our clean air goals.”

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Technical experts at the air board say that by tweaking engine controls--nothing exotic, just better catalysts and electronics--auto makers can make cars that meet the new standards, for less than $200 per vehicle.

But the car industry says building durable emissions equipment is too great a challenge, especially for heavier vehicles. Companies are gearing up for an intense summer campaign that will culminate in November, when the air board plans to vote on the new rules.

The most controversial aspect of the proposal is a requirement that sport utility vehicles, minivans and most pickup trucks meet the same stringent standards as passenger cars. The mighty Chevrolet Blazer could emit no more pollution than a Honda Civic.

General Motors’ emission control director, Sam Leonard, said lumping cars and trucks together is “like telling a 120-pound lady and a 250-pound guy they can survive on the same calorie intake.”

“The reason these vehicles don’t meet the same standards as the passenger car is they are designed to do more work,” Leonard said. “They work harder, and it’s the ability to do that work that makes the vehicle what it is.”

Under the air board’s proposal:

* Cars by 2007 must emit 75% less nitrogen oxides--a key ingredient of smog--than even the cleanest 1998 cars. Only 0.05 grams of nitrogen oxides could be emitted per mile compared with 0.2 grams in today’s low-emission cars.

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* Sport utility vehicles, mini-vans and pickup trucks under 8,500 pounds would no longer be exempt from passenger car emission standards beginning in 2007.

* Emission control equipment must be more durable, with warranties that last for 120,000 miles instead of 100,000 miles.

* Gasoline-powered cars that qualify as super ultra low emission vehicles would be granted credits toward meeting the state’s quota for electric cars, which starts in 2003.

* No evaporative emissions would be allowed from cars’ fuel systems.

Auto executives say they have not yet refined the technology--new catalysts and more advanced computers for controlling fuel--needed to meet the proposed standards in all models, especially sport utility vehicles.

“It is very unrealistic,” Leonard said. “I can’t say it can’t be done because I don’t know what technology is going to bring. But I don’t know how to do it now.”

While auto makers know that tighter emission standards are inevitable, they hope to persuade the board to exempt some vehicles, especially heavier pickup trucks.

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The air board’s engineering experts say they are confident that auto engineers, with more than seven years lead time, can meet the challenge, especially because many vehicles, including the Nissan Altima and Mercury Grand Marquis, are already meeting the tighter standards.

“At this point, it’s not a question of technology. It’s politics,” said Roland Hwang, a senior transportation analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group.

California Cars Are Cleanest in Country

General Motors, in particular, has a long history of complaining louder about California’s pollution standards than Japanese and European manufacturers. Honda--which introduced the first low-emission and ultra low emission cars--declined to comment on the proposal because its engineers are still evaluating it.

California’s cars are already the cleanest in the world, far cleaner than the same models sold in the 49 other states.

In a way, U.S. and foreign auto makers are a victim of their own success--they have repeatedly met the air board’s stringent limits, even exceeded them, and often earlier than expected.

In 1990, when California set its last auto standards, no one envisioned that gasoline-powered cars could be as clean as they are today. Experts thought many cars would have to be fueled by methanol by 1998.

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But the internal combustion engine has proved to be more resilient than anyone believed.Technological improvements--especially electronics that precisely regulate the amount of fuel injected into the engine--have far exceeded expectations.

The low emission vehicle, or LEV, that debuted in 1996 has already turned into the ultra low, or ULEV, with 1998 Honda Accords. And by 2003, manufacturers say, some models could be transformed into super ultra low, or SULEVs. About 35% of 1998 models sold in California qualify as low-emission vehicles.

Environmentalists are content with most of the proposal from the air board’s staff, which will be reviewed at a public workshop Wednesday.

A main goal of the proposal is to close a loophole that has allowed sport utility vehicles to be manufactured with higher emissions than cars.

Sport utility vehicles and minivans are considered “medium-duty trucks,” a category designed for pickups that haul heavy loads.

Because of an explosion in sales of sport utility vehicles, minivans and trucks, Air Resources Board officials say controlling the emissions of those vehicles is one of the most cost-effective measures for curbing smog.

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The only sport utility vehicles that meet passenger car standards are Ford’s 1998 models, including its Explorer and Expedition.

U.S. auto makers worry that people are starting to view sport utility vehicles as gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing road hogs, and they want to portray themselves as companies producing eco-friendly, technologically advanced vehicles. But they also want to stave off regulation that forces their hand.

Although most people who buy sport utility vehicles never take them out of the suburbs or cities, their engines need to be designed so they can tow a load occasionally, Leonard said. “And then there are farmers and ranchers who really do use them like trucks,” he said.

Auto Makers to Reevaluate Plans

Many models might meet the proposed standards straight off the assembly line, but the sticking point is ensuring that the equipment is durable enough in all cars to keep meeting the standards for 120,000 miles. Manufacturers will have to recall vehicles and pay for repairs if emissions equipment breaks down before then.

The challenge of durability is especially difficult with heavier sport utility vehicles and minivans.

Still, tests underway at the Air Resources Board show that even the largest of the sport utility vehicles can meet the requirements, said Steve Albu, the board’s engineering studies chief.

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The car companies say it’s a big jump from a few retrofitted vehicles in the tests to an entire line of mass-produced ones.

The auto makers also may be forced to reevaluate their plans to produce many models with diesel engines. The new standards would almost preclude that in California, unless diesel technology improves drastically.

The standards could cut into the industry’s huge profit margins for sport utility vehicles, which carry steep price tags.

Detailed cost estimates will not be available until this fall. But Albu said it would cost “well under $200” per vehicle to install the equipment.

Albu said that the price tag is considered cost-effective in terms of the pollution it would eliminate--about 175 tons of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons per day in California. Passenger cars emit about 900 tons a day in the state. The Los Angeles Basin must eliminate hundreds of tons a day in order to meet federal health standards for the lung-irritating gas ozone.

Under an existing mandate, beginning in 2003, 10% of new cars sold in California by the seven largest manufacturers must be zero-emissions.

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Environmentalists criticize the proposal to grant makers of super ultra clean cars a credit toward that quota. They say gasoline-powered cars, even super-clean ones, do not deserve the credits because they are often badly maintained and wind up far dirtier than battery-powered cars, which stay emissions-free.

Honda has the first super ultra low car on the drawing board.

Dunlap, the air board’s chairman, called super ultra low cars “a remarkable achievement.”

“We’ve often said we have more confidence in the auto companies than they have in themselves,” he said. “They always seem to find a way.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Emissions Goals

California cars are 90% cleaner today than in the mid-1960s, before pollution controls were developed. Under a new proposal, cars and light trucks in 2007 would have to be even cleaner--emitting 75% less nitrogen oxides, a major smog component, than the cleanest 1998 cars. Some models would become “super-ultra-low emission vehicles”--almost as clean as electric cars.

*--*

GRAMS PER MILE Hydrocarbons Nitrogen oxides 1998 Ford Expedition 0.064 0.10 1998 GM Suburban 0.084 0.40 1998 Lexus LX470 0.088 0.30 1999 Chevy Malibu 0.05 0.10 1998 Honda Accord 0.025 0.10 Proposed 2007 standard 0.04 0.05 Proposed SULEV standard 0.010 0.02

*--*

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Emissions of a Chevy Malibu

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GRAMS PER MILE Hydrocarbons Nitrogen oxides 1965 4.500 2.20 1975 0.900 2.00 1999 0.050 0.10 Proposed 2007 0.040 0.05

*--*

Note: Emission levels based on state certification tests at 50,000 miles.

Source: California Air Resources Board

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