Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Tuesday that maintaining a unified national fuel standard is “essential.”
The Obama administration established a waiver program to the national fuel standard, which allowed states including California and Massachusetts to establish stronger fuel emissions standards than federal standards. The EPA is now considering changes to the federal fuel standard policy that could eliminate the waiver program.
The agency, which is in talks with states that have stricter fuel standards, expects to reach a decision on those potential changes by April.