The EPA finally has an answer on whether states may create their own vehicle carbon emission standards: No.

Citing the Energy Independence and Security Act, signed last month into law by President Bush, the White House has decided that the new federal standard for greenhouse gas emissions has made state controls unnecessary and overly burdensome.

“President Bush and Congress have set the bar high, and, when fully implemented, our federal fuel economy standard will achieve significant benefits by applying to all 50 states,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson in the agency’s press release. “The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution –not a confusing patchwork of state rules,” Johnson added to reporters on a conference call. “I believe this is a better approach than if individual states were to act alone.”

California’s AB 1493, also called the Pavley Law, sought to establish vehicle greenhouse gas pollution standards. The agency also noted that California’s current waiver request is distinct from all prior requests. Previous waiver petitions covered pollutants that predominantly impacted local and regional air quality, whereas greenhouse gases are fundamentally global in nature.

For more information about the Energy Independence and Security Act, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/ and search under bill number for “hr6.”