SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court sharply rejected the Bush administration’s new pollution standards for most sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and vans and ordered regulators yesterday to draft a new plan that’s tougher on auto emissions.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to address why the so-called light trucks are allowed to pollute more than passenger cars and didn’t properly assess greenhouse gas emissions when it set new minimum miles-per-gallon requirements for models in 2008 to 2011. The court also said the administration failed to include in the new rules heavier trucks driven as commuter vehicles, among several other deficiencies found. Judge Betty Fletcher wrote that the administration “cannot put a thumb on the scale by undervaluing the benefits and overvaluing the costs of more stringent standards.”

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, said the administration was in the process of reviewing the decision. “We will consider all of our options,” he said.

California and 10 other states, two cities and four environmental groups sued the administration after it announced the new fuel economy standards last year.

“It’s a stunning rebuke to the Bush administration and its failed energy policy,” Attorney General Jerry Brown of California said.

The court ordered the administration to draw up new rules as soon as possible, but automakers complained yesterday they’re already deep into developing light trucks through 2011 based on the new standards.