WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Barack Obama followed up his pledge to craft new fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy-duty vehicles during the State of the Union with the announcement that such standards were in the works, USA Today reports. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were tasked with developing the new standards, which will include greenhouse gas standards, by March 31, 2016.

“The goal we are setting is ambitious,” the president said when he announced the plans at a Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. “But these are areas where ambition has worked out really well for us so far.”

Despite accounting for a mere 4% of registered vehicles, heavy-duty trucks produce around a quarter of road-fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation category. The Obama administration estimates that the United States will realize around 530 million barrels of oil in savings, plus lower greenhouse gas emissions by 270 million metric tons, based on the 2011 fuel standards.

The White House will give tax credits to companies manufacturing heavy-duty alternative fuel trucks and to businesses building the infrastructure for refueling. Obama also wants Congress to stop oil and gas company subsidies, as well as form an Energy Security Trust Fund for technology research and development of advanced vehicles.