The EPA isn't considering setting national limits on greenhouse gas emissions, spokeswoman Roxanne Smith said.
California is already wrestling with the federal government over a 2002 law sponsored by Pavley that led to regulations requiring automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions 29% on cars and light trucks sold in the state by 2016. Ten other states are trying to adopt California's tougher emission standards.
But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contends that the regulations are the equivalent of new fuel economy standards, which only the federal government is entitled to set.
A spokesman for California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer called the argument "completely bogus."
The NHTSA stance is "an unwarranted attack on California's landmark law to fight one of the greatest environmental dangers facing our people and economy," spokesman Tom Dresslar said.
Automakers are using the same argument as NHTSA in lawsuits against California and other states that seek to overturn the tailpipe emissions standards. The auto companies also contend that meeting the state requirements would be too expensive.
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), along with 19 of their Senate colleagues, wrote to the EPA on Friday demanding that the agency grant California a waiver to the Clean Air Act that would allow the state and others to enforce their own vehicle emission standards and reduce global warming.
