NGVAmerica Makes Case for NGVs in Meeting with OMB

On Tuesday, NGVAmerica met with officials from the Office and Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss its views on future greenhouse gas and fuel economy regulations for light duty vehicles. In April, the U.S. EPA announced the withdrawal of the Obama Administration’s January 2017 decision to retain the MY 2022 – 2025 greenhouse gas regulations for light duty vehicles. EPA’s April notice indicated that the standards are no longer appropriate due to changing circumstances. EPA also specifically referenced comments by NGVAmerica that the current regulatory framework for NGVs needs to change to better address the environmental benefits of NGVs. Agency officials separately acknowledged that changes in the treatment of natural gas are under consideration.

Tuesday’s meeting provided NGVAmerica staff with the chance to highlight their concerns and top priorities for this rulemaking. OMB is the last stop for most proposed regulations and its review of regulations provides the White House with one last chance to review and provide input on regulatory actions before they are released.  The purpose of NGVAmerica’s meeting with OMB was to make sure the professional staff at OMB and the agencies understand the issues that are most important to the NGV industry.

As the trade association explained in its May 30 written submission to EPA and NHTSA, a top priority should be ensuring that the regulations provide a level playing field for all advanced technology vehicles. NGVAmerica underscored the positive role NGVs can play in addressing petroleum reductions and emission reductions from light duty vehicles, especially light trucks and sport utility vehicles.

NGVAmerica urged the OMB to recognize the increasing importance of renewable natural gas and its beneficial impact on NGV emissions and underscored the importance of providing regulatory incentives and removing regulatory barriers to facilitate the increased production of NGVs.  A top priority in this effort is to ensure that the fuel economy and greenhouse gas incentives align with one another. Providing meaningful and consistent incentives is the key to encouraging automakers to expand their offering of NGVs and other alternative fuel vehicles.

OMB is expected to wrap up meetings with stakeholder in the near term, and a proposed regulation could be issued sometime later this summer.

For more information contact Jeff Clarke at 202.824.7364 or jclarke@NGVAmerica.org.