"Our (new) regulations will help create a common North American approach to regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles," said Environment Minister Jim Prentice. "This is an important step in the fight against climate change."
Canada and the U.S. are working towards a common North American approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by introducing aligned and progressively tighter regulatory requirements over the 2011-2016 model years. Because the two countries share a deeply integrated automotive industry, there are significant environmental and economic benefits to an approach that is closely aligned.
The draft regulations are highly complex, making it difficult to comprehend exactly what they mean in fuel consumption terms as they vary according to vehicle “footprint” (size). But they are designed to duplicate the fuel economy standards that will be in effect in the U.S, which means manufacturers will not be required to build vehicles specific to the Canadian market in terms of fuel consumption.
According to the Government, it is anticipated that the average GHG emission performance of the 2016 Canadian fleet of new cars and light trucks would match the average level of 155 g CO2/km that has been projected for the US, which would represent an approximate 20 percent reduction (in fuel consumption as well as GHG emissions) compared to the new vehicle fleet that was sold in Canada in 2007.
Canada is developing these GHG emission standards through the authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). The release of the draft regulations is the next step in the process that was announced in April 2009, and will allow for consultations with provinces, territories and stakeholders. Following these consultations, proposed regulations are expected to be published in the Canada Gazette Part I for a 60-day formal public comment period.
Click here for further background information on the new regulations.
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