Washington Motor Vehicle
Emissions Standards

Frequently Asked Questions

What are clean car standards?

Clean car standards are auto emission standards that are stronger than the federal standards we currently use, and they require that new cars sold in our state emit less pollution. The standards do not limit vehicle choice. In fact, eight other states have adopted clean car standards because they give new car buyers more choices, including advanced, super-low-emission vehicles that are only available to states with these standards. The new clean car standards will go into effect for new 2009 model cars.

Will clean cars cost more?

No. Clean cars put money back in consumers’ pockets by saving money on fuel costs. By adopting the standards in 2005, Washington state consumers will save more than $2 billion in total costs by 2020, after paying for the small increase in vehicle price. We save money, clean up our air and get more clean car choices, with no constraints on our choice of size or type of vehicle. Here’s how the savings will accumulate for a typical purchaser (see also Clean Car Costs and Benefits to Consumers):¹

• If you are a typical buyer and you buy a new car in 2012, you’ll finance the purchase over five years. For that first five years, you’ll save $18 per month in fuel costs and pay $7 more a month on your car payment, for a net monthly savings of $11. After the car is paid off, you get the full $18 a month.
• If you buy the car with cash, it will cost $324 more on average but save more than $2,000over the life of the car.

How will clean car standards affect our risk for cancer?

Clean car standards reduce dangerous pollutants that increase our risk for cancer. The Puget Sound region ranks in the top 5 percent of the country for cancer risk from air toxics like benzene, a pollutant from automobiles that has been shown to cause cancer in humans. More than 50 percent of the benzene in our air comes from cars and light-duty trucks.² Clean car standards have been shown to reduce cancer-causing pollutants in other states by 25 percent including benzene, formaldehyde and other dangerous emissions.³

How will clean car standards affect asthma and children’s health in Washington?

Cars and trucks are the number one cause of Washington’s toxic air pollution,⁴ and are a major factor in the rising asthma rates in our cities. In Seattle and Spokane, one in 10 children now have asthma, nearly twice the national average, and hospital rates for children with asthma in the Puget Sound region has increased 53 percent in the last decade.⁵ Clean car standards have been shown to reduce dangerous ground-level ozone, which aggravates asthma and impairs the body's immune system defenses, making people more susceptible to respiratory illnesses, including bronchitis and pneumonia.⁶

What is the global warming update to clean car standards?

The global warming update is a recent improvement to clean car standards that requires a 30 percent reduction in global warming emissions from new cars by 2016. The requirement will be phased in slowly from 2009 to 2016. It will also offer a new benefit: fuel efficiency. The fuel savings will more than pay for the cost of emission reduction technology.

How will clean car standards affect Washington’s economy?
Clean car standards will help Washington’s economy in two important ways. First, Washington consumers will save more than $2 billion on fuel costs after covering the clean car cost increase. That’s $2 billion that will go into our local economy instead of into our gas tanks.

Second, the clean car standards will ensure our economy can grow within safe pollution limits. Many areas in Washington, including the Puget Sound region, Vancouver, Spokane and Yakima are at or near these legal limits.⁷ If we exceed safe pollution limits, we can’t add new industry and existing industry can’t expand. Right now, automobiles produce a disproportionate share of Washington’s pollution because Washington uses weak federal vehicle emission standards that allow too much pollution. Giving everyone cleaner car choices protects our health and our economy. It ensures automakers will do their fair share to keep our air clean, so local businesses don’t have to do it all.

How will clean car standards improve consumer choice?

States with clean car standards get to choose all kinds of new cars— more than 25 models of regular cars that emit less smog, less cancer causing toxics and less global warming pollution. These cars include SUVs, pickup trucks and even Hummers that pollute less because they have better pollution control. Consumers can also expect to see more advanced-technology cars, like hybrids, without the six month to one year wait that we currently have here.

Will clean car standards change the kinds of cars we could buy?

All makes and models — even the heaviest vehicles, like Hummers — can meet the standards cost-effectively. The eight other states that have clean car standards have the same SUVs, light trucks and passenger cars that we do, only better. From Buicks to BMWs, clean cars are ordinary cars that have better pollution control technology. But only states with clean car standards get all these choices

Is there a lawsuit that will affect this legislation?

There is no challenge to the basic clean car standard, which has already been implemented and provided cleaner air and more consumer choice in eight other states. Both clean car standards and weaker federal emission standards are updated from time to time, and automakers are fighting an update to the clean car standard that would reduce global warming emissions. Automakers already lost the fight to stop the basic clean car standard, just as they lost the fight against seatbelts, air bags and fuel efficiency standards. We can adopt the clean car standards now without any legal challenge.If automakers do stop the global warming update, we will still have the benefits of the basic clean car standard: more consumer choices and cleaner air.

Will Washington get drawn into a court case?

No. Automakers are suing the state of California about an update that would reduce global warming emissions, but the lawsuit won’t stop the basic clean car standards from going into place here and it won’t involve Washington state. Also, California is paying the costs to develop and defend these standards, while other states like Washington reap the benefits.

Will diesel cars be allowed under clean car standards?

Yes. Federal requirements for ultra-low sulfur diesel will be mandated nationwide in 2006. In 2007, the new emission standards for diesel engines go into effect. After 2007, diesel engines in passenger cars using the new fuel or bio-diesel will meet California standards. So, by 2009, when the standards go into effect in Washington, passenger diesel (and bio-diesel) will be totally acceptable. These standards do not affect heavy-duty trucks.

Is the global warming update the same as fuel efficiency standards?

No. The law requires that new cars reduce global warming emissions with a variety of technologies that are already available and on the road. Automakers can use any mix of technology they want to meet the standard, and even the heaviest vehicles can meet the standard cost-effectively. Federal law gives priority to air pollution standards, whether or not the technology used to meet emission standards has an effect on vehicle fuel consumption—either to increase it or decrease it.

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