The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday granted California, Rhode Island and 12 other states the authority they had sought for years to impose automobile tailpipe emissions standards that are stricter than those promulgated by the federal government.

The George W. Bush administration adamantly opposed the so-called waivers. But the Obama administration not only granted the waivers and put them in effect immediately, it is also raising standards for the rest of the country.

As a result, Rhode Island and the other 13 states may impose stricter standards from this year until 2012. Then the stricter federal standards will start to phase in. The new standards apply only to new cars.

From 2012 to 2015, the waiver states will recognize the less-stringent federal standards as a compromise in exchange for the national program finally achieving the strictest standards in 2015, according to Douglas McVay, acting chief of the Office of Air Resources at the state Department of Environmental Management.

General Motors responded by saying the California emissions waiver was not unexpected. The company said the waiver “should not diminish the collective commitment and effort on the part of automakers, California, federal regulators and environmental interests to follow President Obama’s direction toward developing a single, harmonized national standard that improves fuel economy and reduces vehicle emissions.”

Governor Carcieri issued a statement commending the EPA for taking such a big step toward improving the nation’s air quality.

California requested permission to impose stricter emission standards in 2005. Its goal was to reduce the release of pollutants contributing to climate change. Rhode Island and 12 other states also applied for the stricter standards.

DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan said the the transportation sector contributes nearly 40 percent of Rhode Island’s greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2007, the EPA denied California’s waiver request. Automakers sued the states to block them from imposing tougher standards without federal waivers. The states defeated the automakers in two courtroom battles.

Tricia K. Jedele, director of the Rhode Island office of the Conservation Law Foundation, which assisted the states in the trials, issued a statement saying, “The waiver is not merely a piece of paper that California should have received two years ago, it is a statement that Washington understands that climate change is real, and that it will stand by the important leadership role carved out for the states in the Clean Air Act to address the threats posed by it.”

plord@projo.com