LOS ANGELES, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration announced a deal on Tuesday on auto emissions, a move that marks a vindication of California's long battle to toughen standards, it was reported on Tuesday.

    The deal forces dramatic reductions in vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in auto mileage, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    After decades of political sparring, legal challenges and scientific arguments over climate change, three of the central players -- the federal government, major U.S. automakers and California -- have found that the time has come to suspend hostilities and make a deal, the paper noted.

    For cars and trucks, the agreement establishes a single nationwide standard that would require a 30-percent reduction in carbon dioxide and other emissions from vehicles sold in the United States by 2016.

    The agreement also pushes new vehicles sold in the United States to average 35.5 miles (56.8 kilometers) per gallon in 2016,up from 25 mpg today.

    The agreement, coupled with increased fuel-efficiency requirements that Congress approved in 2007, would add 1,300 dollars to the price of a new car in 2016, the administration estimated.

    The new limits are projected to reduce U.S. oil consumption by about five percent a year. The nation currently uses about 7.1 billion barrels a year.

    For its part, California will essentially accept the national standard as a substitute for the state's own tough emission requirements. The Obama standard is designed to achieve the same level of emission cutbacks as the California rule, but automakers will be given more time to adapt.

    Completing the three-way deal, automakers will pledge to drop their effort to block the California rules through legal challenges, according to the paper.

    "Everybody wins," David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate center, said in remarks published by the paper. "It's going to cut carbon pollution. The drivers of these cars are going to save money at the pump. It's going to cut our national oil dependence."

    The previous U.S. administration under George W. Bush rejected California's request for federal permission to tighten its vehicle emission standards. But after the Obama administration took over, the Environmental Protection Agency reexamined the issue.