At a Glance

The Environmental Protection Agency announced its final determination Monday.The EPA says the process to set new standards will begin in cooperation with theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration.The move will likely ignite a fight with California and other states that have their own strict, emissions standards.

The Trump administrations announced Monday that it plans to easeautomobile pollution standards adopted by the Obama administration that were meant to reduce dangerous greenhouse gases.

The Obama-eraCorporate Average Fuel Economy(CAFE) rulesrequiredautomakers to cut emissions to a level that enables new vehicles toaverage 54.5 miles a gallonby 2025, the Associated Press reports.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced its so-called ina press release Monday, saying it will pull back the standards set by the Obama administration. The agency did not sayby how much the standards would be eased, only that the process to set "more appropriate" standards would begin in cooperation with theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The decision will likely ignite a showdown with other states like California that already have stricter standards.

In thestatement, the EPA said the Obama administration was "wrong" when it "short-circuited" the midterm evaluation process, a process originally put into place to determine whether the standards based on2012 projections remained appropriate or should be made more, or less stringent.

Before leaving the White House, the Obama administration decided on Jan. 12, 2017, to end the evaluation process and set the 54.5-mpg CAFE standard.

The auto industry pushed back on the Obama decision and called on the EPA to return to the original midterm evaluation timeline, with its April 1, 2018, deadline. President Donald Trump complied and mandated the resumption of the EPA review in August 2017.

“Obama’s EPA cut the midterm evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with realityand set the standards too high,” EPA chief Scott Pruitt said in the press release.

Through the new evaluation process, the administration determined" in light of the record before EPA and, therefore, should be revised."

Representatives of the automotive industry praised the announcement.

TheAlliance of Automobile Manufacturers said the .

"We support the administration for pursuing a data-driven effort and a single national program as it works to finalize future standards," the organization said. "We appreciate that the administration is working to find a way to both increasefuel economy standards and keep new vehicles affordable to more Americans."

Mitch Bainwol, president and CEO of the trade group that represents 12 automakers, noted in an op-ed that "adjustments" that will be made to the standards is not "a rollback."

"The industry is committed to ongoing progress in a journey that has no end date," Bainwol said. "After all, we have invested substantially in energy-efficient technologies that we would like to see consumers embrace. We expect that fuel economy will keep rising. The only issue is at what speed. We do not buy the view that the 2012 projections were perfect and that conditions are unchanged. On the contrary, the projections were materially imperfect and conditions have fundamentally changed."

Showdown With California, Other States, Now Looms

The move has outraged legislators in California, where a decades-old allowed it to adopt its own, stricter air pollution standards. The EPA made a point of noting in its announcement Monday that it will continue toreview California'swaiver.

“Cooperative federalism doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country. EPA will set a national standard for greenhouse gas emissions that allows auto manufacturers to make cars that people both want and can afford — while still expanding environmental and safety benefits of newer cars. It is in America's best interest to have a national standard, and we look forward to partnering with all states, including California, as we work to finalize that standard," Pruitt said.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday the [that] will poison our air and jeopardize the health of all Americans.”

Mary Nichols, California’s top air pollution regulator, told the New York Times to lessen its standards.

“This is a politically motivated effort to weaken clean vehicle standards,” said Nichols, adding that the state “will vigorously defend the existing clean vehicle standards.”

Meanwhile, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the state was “ready to file suit.”

Thirteen other states have also set their own stricter standards based on those set by California. This hasposed a dilemma for automakers, who say producing different models to meet different standards in the country would cost billions.

"Maintaining a single national program is critical to ensuring that cars remain affordable," the Auto Alliance said. "We look forward to working with key stakeholders and the state of California once EPA and NHTSA begin a rulemaking."

In a joint statement, the Pacific Coast Collaborative, which includes the governors of Washington, California, and Oregon, and the mayors of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, by the automotive industry put in motion by states that took the lead in setting emission standards."

“Of the many ill-conceived, harmful and legally questionable moves made by this administration, this decision to roll back standards that have restored clear skies to our polluted cities and saved drivers billions of dollars, must be the most indefensible," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said.