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Board votes to weaken emissions regulation
SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- State air regulators have weakened the nation's toughest auto emissions regulations, favoring cleaner cars over pollution-free vehicles that automakers have failed to mass produce. The California Air Resources Board voted 8-3 Thursday to call for large numbers of cleaner gas-burning vehicles, thousands of gas-electric hybrids and 250 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the next five years. The old rules, which effectively required automakers to produce battery-powered electric cars, was put on hold last year by a federal court. It would have required 10 percent of cars for sale this year -- about 100,000 -- be nonpolluting. While the battery-electric vehicle showed promise when the first rule was passed 13 years ago, the board's latest vote officially endorses the fuel cell to power the nonpolluting car of tomorrow. Alan Lloyd, chairman of the resources board, defended the changes and said the board was not retreating from the original zero-emission objective in the nation's smoggiest state. "It's not backsliding. We're getting vehicles out there in greater numbers that we anticipate being closer to zero," Lloyd said. "In fact, we're probably getting clean air faster." The three board members who voted against the revised regulation said they were skeptical of automakers after earlier failed promises. They also said the quota of 250 fuel cell vehicles by 2008 was too low. The regulations also allow automakers to bypass the fuel cell requirement for five years through a combination of offering electric cars, low-polluting vehicles such as hybrids that run on gasoline and electricity, and credits for previously built clean cars. There also was concern with a provision that allows carmakers to meet the goal by putting cars on roads in New York and Massachusetts, which have adopted similar regulations. "I think it's a bait-and-switch strategy," said board member Dorene D'Adamo. "I hope I'm wrong." The White House has pledged funds for fuel cell development and automakers have embraced the technology that runs on electricity from a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen and only emits clean water from the tailpipe. Still, it's not clear the technology will ever be competitive in the auto marketplace and there's uncertainty whether hydrogen fueling stations will be built. Automakers, who produced electric cars in small numbers, took a neutral stance when the new regulations were discussed at a public hearing last month. They favored it over past versions, but generally oppose regulation of any kind and say they want market forces and competition to drive technological changes. Environmentalists who have criticized regulatory rollbacks over the years had mixed reaction to the changes. Roland Hwang, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the additional quota numbers were a step in the right direction, but said success will be determined by whether automakers embrace the changes and work with regulators. Sandra Spelliscy, general counsel of the Planning and Conservation League, was less optimistic. "It's hard to categorize it as anything but a huge win for the automakers," Spelliscy said. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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