Suit targets Bush administration over fuel rules

updated 1:36 p.m. ET May 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - Ten states, led by California, said Tuesday they plan to sue the federal government to try to force the Bush administration to strengthen gas mileage requirements for sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.

The lawsuit will contend the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to conduct a thorough analysis of the environmental benefits of fuel economy regulations and the impact of gasoline consumption on climate change.

"The federal agency has ignored the law that requires integrating environmental impacts into their standard-setting," California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The states were filing a petition for review with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco later Tuesday. The action follows the release of a government rule in late March setting tighter gas mileage rules for pickups, SUVs and vans covering the 2008-2011 model years.

The Bush administration said the program, based on the vehicle's size, was expected to save 10.7 billion gallons of fuel over the lifetime of the vehicles sold during that period. There was no immediate comment Tuesday from the NHTSA. A reporter's message was left with a NHTSA spokesman.

Plans for the lawsuit were first reported by The New York Times.

Amid rising gas prices and worries about energy independence, the administration asked Congress last week to give it the authority to change fuel economy standards for passenger cars.

Environmentalists have expressed disappointment with the light truck rule that would lead to a fleetwide average of 24 miles per gallon by 2011. The program will be phased in through 2010, with automakers having the option of complying under the old system until the new rules take full effect in 2011.

"The proposed upgrade in fuel economy standards is a complete sham and a gift to the auto industry," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Blumenthal said in an AP interview that the analysis was "fundamentally flawed" and the new regulations failed "to consider the dangerous impact of gasoline consumption on climate change," allowing larger vehicles to be built with greater weight and less fuel economy.

The 10 states include California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont. The District of Columbia and New York City were also plaintiffs..

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