Hearing of Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at the Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS)&nbsp;in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pablo ZALBA BIDEGAIN (EPP, ES), Rapporteur, and Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&amp;D, DK).

Brussels

emissions of vehicles (T)

hearing

Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector

ZALBA BIDEGAIN, Pablo (EPP, ES)

SCHALDEMOSE, Christel (S&D, DK)

Hearing of Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality , U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

SOUNDBITE (English), Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , <p>We have a long history of successfully implementing emissions standards for vehicles and engines&gt; These programmes have had a a demonstrable and measurable impact in the US. And there are several key principles that we believe ar fundamental to this success. First under the US Clean Air Act the EPA has the authority to establish technology and advancing emissions standards. We set standards that are performance-based, which meas we do not mandate specific technologies, but rather our standards specify the emissions performance that is required, and leave it to the market and auto makers to the best way to acheive them.</p>

SOUNDBITE (English), Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we take our responsibility to oversee and the enforcement of our clean air regulation seriously. And we do so for two very important reasons: first it is this oversight that ensures our citizens get the benefits that these standards promises them. Second, if we don't t do this work and do it well, the significant investments industry is developing are at risk.

SOUNDBITE (English), Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first, we have learned that test procedures matter. During the 1990's the EPA brought a number of enforcement cases concerning defeat devices againstlight duty vehicle manufacturers and heavy duty commercial engine makers. Based on vehicle or engine design that failed to maintain emission control in use. These actions actions resulted in settlements agreements in 1995,98, 99., that at the time represented the largest clean air settlements and penalties in EPA history.

SOUNDBITE (English), Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA subsequently created new test procedures for both light and heavy duty vehicles to ensure that the benefits of US emissions standards were realised in use. The additional test procedures were designed to ensure that manufacturers produce vehicles that maintain emissions control over the broad range of normal operation and use, for example in cold and hot temperatures, in high speed and agressive driving.

SOUNDBITE (English), Pablo ZALBA BIDEGAIN (EPP, ES), Rapporteur, Where do you see the strengths and weaknesses of in the US California vehicle testing enforcement schemes?

SOUNDBITE (English), Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , Our strength is under the Clean Air Act, having the kind of centralised authority and very robust tool kit, to develop test procedures and demand from the manufacturers. That all data related to emissions are public data, and transparent, that we have a very strong and predictable and strictenforcement scheme,and that both California and EPA believes in the importance of achieving emission compliance throughout the product life cycle. Interms of weakness, as I already mentioned I wish we would have been less predictable in the past.

SOUNDBITE (English), Christel SCHALDEMOSE (S&amp;D, DK), <p>Do you think it is in the nature of a car manufacturerto just only comply with the absolute minimum requirement, or even sometimes below the absolute minimum. Do you think it is in the nature or why do you have this approach to them?</p>

SOUNDBITE (English), Christopher GRUNDLER, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality,U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), When you reach a one billion settlement with groups firms that acts as a very very strong deterrent. So I would not say that it is in general in their nature.