EPA's Greenhouse Gas Rule for Autos Likely To Spark Lawsuits

"Lawsuits attacking U.S. EPA's first greenhouse gas standard are expected to start rolling in after the Obama administration's suite of new automobile standards was published Friday in the Federal Register.

The publication of the joint EPA and Transportation Department rule imposing the first-ever federal greenhouse gas emissions standards on cars and trucks and raising the fuel economy of the nation's passenger fleet triggers a 60-day deadline for opponents to challenge the rules in court, according to legal experts.

The rules take effect on July 6, which means critics have until then to challenge EPA's portion of the rule in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The rules -- which represent a White House-brokered compromise between carmakers and states that had pushed to create their own auto emissions standards -- will push the nation's corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, and will impose an average carbon dioxide limit of 250 grams per mile per vehicle in 2016."

Robin Bravender reports for Greenwire May 10, 2010.