After Trump Killed Rebates, EPA Now Cites Falling EV Sales As Reason To "Reconsider" (i.e. Kill) Tier 4 Air Standards

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Last edited Tue May 19, 2026, 06:54 AM - Edit history (1)

After eliminating the electric vehicle tax credit, rolling back fuel economy standards and blocking California’s stringent vehicle emissions rules, the Trump administration is now citing slowed electric vehicle growth as its rationale for loosening automobile air pollution standards. In a rulemaking proposal released Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to delay the adoption of Biden-era Tier 4 air pollution standards for passenger cars and trucks and, going forward, to reconsider them.

The agency said that the proposed change is in response to “the overwhelming rejection of Electric Vehicles (EVs) by the American people and manufacturers shifting away from them.” It comes amid debate over environmental regulation and the influence of industry interests in the Trump administration. Established in April 2024, the Tier 4 Criteria Pollutant Standards represent the most recent batch of vehicle emissions standards adopted under the Clean Air Act. The standards would have required manufacturers to meet fleet-average limits on smog-producing volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter tailpipe emissions, with phase-in beginning in 2027.

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In a follow-up statement to Inside Climate News, the agency provided several examples of major automotive companies discontinuing EV lines months before the administration’s regulatory decisions. “I know it is a hard pill for the left to swallow, but Americans did not like EVs being forced upon them,” a representative from the agency’s press office wrote. “There is no other way to say it. Americans made this clear by leaving EVs unsold on car lots, and the Trump Administration listened to the American people.”

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The automotive industry as a whole, however, is celebrating the proposed rule change. “This is a smart and necessary step on the Tier 4 criteria emission standards from Administrator Zeldin and EPA that makes a lot of sense given current market conditions,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, in a statement to Inside Climate News. The alliance is a Washington, D.C.-based lobby group and trade association whose members include car and light-duty truck vendors operating in the U.S.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18052026/epa-loosens-automaker-air-pollution-rules/