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California, home to Tesla Motors, is stepping up efforts to plan the next stage of clean air standards despite the fact that President Barack Obama announced his new proposal for fuel-economy regulations based on the state’s model.

“California will be immediately getting to work on what the standards should be for beyond 2016,” Mary Nichols, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said in an interview Reuters. Nichols said that she expects “a much more stringent standard.”

U.S. Department of Transportation will set a 35.5 mpg fleet average target for 2016 while the EPA will set a fleet goal of tailpipe emissions of 250 grams of carbon per mile traveled by 2016.

The Big 3 U.S. automakers averaged a fuel-economy of 24-25 mpg in 2007.

Source: Reuters