"EPA Challenged Safety Of Administration Mileage Freeze"

"WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency privately challenged the Trump administration’s rationale for freezing Obama-era mileage standards, saying the proposal would actually increase U.S. highway deaths.

In announcing the mileage proposal earlier this month, officials with the EPA and Department of Transportation contended the mileage freeze would save about 1,000 lives a year. But in a June email, senior EPA staffers told the Office of Management and Budget — the White House office charged with evaluating regulatory changes — that it would slightly increase highway deaths, by 17 annually.

The “proposed standards are detrimental to safety, rather than beneficial,” William Charmley, director of the assessments and standards division of the EPA’s office of transportation and air quality, said in a June 18 interagency email, released Tuesday."

Ellen Knickmeyer reports for the Associated Press August 14, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"EPA Staff Disputed Claim Fuel Efficiency Plan Would Save Lives" (Reuters)

Source: AP, 08/15/2018