California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

California air regulators slashed the number of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles that must be sold in the state. The California Air Resources Board voted to
lower by 70 percent the number of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that
must be sold in the state.

Instead, the air board said the six largest automakers must sell nearly 60,000 hybrid
vehicles while they develop the more advanced technology that will allow mass production
of pure zero-emission vehicles.

California adopted its zero-emission vehicle mandate in 1990 as part of an attempt to reduce
smog-forming emissions such as nitrogen oxide. The rule required that 10 percent of new cars
sold in the state by the country's six leading auto manufacturers be completely nonpolluting by
2003.

The rules have been modified four times since they were introduced. The biggest change
came in 2003, when the Air Resources Board significantly scaled back the mandate and ruled
that hydrogen cars, hybrids and cleaner-burning gasoline vehicles could meet the state's goals.
The revised 2003 rules set a goal of putting at least 25,000 zero-emission cars on the road by
2014, far below the original 10 percent mandate. The rules adopted put the number at 7,500, a
70 percent reduction from the 2003 target.The decision is expected to affect 12 other states that
had adopted California's target for zero-emission vehicles.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.

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