EPA GHG Standards

What the 2024 rule set

EPA's Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles (final rule, 89 FR 27842, published April 18, 2024; signed March 20, 2024) tightened greenhouse-gas (GHG) and criteria-pollutant standards under Clean Air Act Section 202(a).

• GHG target: an industry light-duty fleet average of about 85 g CO2/mile in MY2032, roughly a 50% cut from prior standards, phased in across MY2027-2032.
• Compliance pathway EPA modeled: about 56% battery-electric (plus 13% plug-in hybrid) light-duty new-sales share by MY2032. This is a projected pathway, not a sales quota.
• Criteria-pollutant ("Tier 4") limits phase in MY2027-2033.

What changed in 2025-2026

The GHG portion is repealed. On March 12, 2025 EPA announced reconsideration; on July 29, 2025 it proposed to rescind the 2009 GHG endangerment finding (the Section 202(a) prerequisite for regulating vehicle GHGs) and repeal the GHG standards that depend on it. EPA finalized the rescission on February 12, 2026 (published Feb 18, 2026 as FR 2026-03157), effective April 20, 2026. EPA's rationale: without the endangerment finding it lacks statutory authority to set vehicle GHG standards.

• The repeal is GHG-only. The Tier 4 criteria-pollutant standards remain on the books but are under separate reconsideration, with EPA proposing to delay Tier 4 from MY2027 to MY2029 (not yet finalized as of mid-2026).
• The rescission is expected to draw litigation, so the repeal could be contested in court; as of June 2026 it is the operative final agency action.

Hiring relevance

With federal GHG standards withdrawn, OEM compliance-engineering and powertrain-electrification roles tied to the MY2027-2032 ramp face reduced regulatory pull. Demand for environmental-counsel and regulatory-affairs work shifts toward litigation and the Tier 4 reconsideration docket rather than GHG compliance build-out.