Clean Fuel Fleet Program - General Information

Overview

Together, gasoline and diesel fuel power 99 percent of this country's motor vehicle fleet. Past efforts to reduce vehicle emissions took petroleum fuels as a given and focused on the development of sophisticated engine and vehicle emission control systems involving catalytic converters, on-board computers, and other hardware. The Clean Air Act of 1990 explicitly recognizes that changes in fuels as well as in vehicle technology must play a role in reducing air pollution from motor vehicles.

The recognition that fuels are significant opened up an interesting debate about the relative merits of petroleum and non-petroleum fuels. Petroleum fuels have many advantages as vehicle fuels. Most important, our country's vast transportation infrastructure (refineries, pipelines, service stations, vehicle assembly plants, etc.) has been designed and optimized for petroleum fuels. On the other hand, petroleum fuels have certain drawbacks. Emissions of reactive hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen from gasoline and diesel vehicles contribute significantly to the air pollution that plagues most large American cities. Carbon dioxide emissions from petroleum fuel combustion add to the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases and the potential for global warming. The United States consumes far more oil than it can produce domestically, leading to concerns over our energy and national security. There are several alternative fuels, such as methanol, ethanol, natural gas, propane, electricity, and hydrogen, that could reduce vehicle emissions of conventional and greenhouse pollutants and could be produced from domestic supplies.

Clean Fuel Provisions of the Clean Air Act of l990

The Clean Air Act stopped short of mandating the sale or use of alternative fuels. But the Act includes several programs that will require cleaner fuels and will open up the fuel market. These include provisions that force modifications in gasoline composition and that establish more stringent emission standards for vehicles in certain polluted areas.

The Clean-Fuel Fleet Vehicle Program

This Clean Air Act provision applies to fleets in metropolitan areas around the country that have high ozone and/or carbon monoxide pollution. The fleet program requires certain fleets to acquire vehicles that are cleaner than those for sale in the general U.S. market. A portion of new cars, light trucks, and medium-duty trucks purchased by fleets will need to meet the lower hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emission standards. Individual states must ensure that appropriate fuels are available for clean-fueled fleet vehicles. All in all, this program will affect approximately 35,000 fleets and should result in about one million clean-fueled vehicles nationwide by 2010.

More useful information

• Clean Fuel Fleet Program - Fact Sheet
• Clean Fuel Fleet Program Registration
• Annual Compliance Plan Report
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Informational Resources - Links and Telephone Numbers
• Draft lists of low-emission vehicles

Draft lists of low-emission vehicles are below. Emission standards are found under the "Standard" column. Vehicles meet the Wisconsin CFFP requirements if they meet any of the following standards: LEV, ILEV, ULEV, ZEV or new Tier 2 standards (Bins 1-8 for vehicles under 8,500 lbs GVW and Bins 1-11 for vehicles over 8,500 lbs GVW).

NOTE: Many manufacturers require vehicles to be ordered LEV or with a specific Option Code in order to receive LEV certified vehicles (e.g. code VCL for gasoline & diesel GMs). Though a vehicle may be on this list, that specific vehicle may not be LEV if it was not ordered as such. A vehicle's low emission status must be verified upon purchase or by looking at the emissions sticker under the hood.

• DNR draft list of 1999-2000 Model Year vehicles
• Draft lists available on the EPA Green Vehicle Guide (exit DNR) (http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles)
  • EPA list of 2000 MY vehicles (exit DNR)
  • EPA list of 2001 MY vehicles (exit DNR)
  • EPA list of 2002 MY vehicles (exit DNR)
  • EPA list of 2003 MY vehicles (exit DNR)
  • EPA list of 2004 MY vehicles (exit DNR)
  • EPA list of 2005 MY vehicles (exit DNR)
  • EPA list of 2006 MY vehicles (exit DNR)

Mobile Sources || Air Management