The Safer and Affordable Fuel Efficient Vehicles Proposed Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 COMMENTS DUE: EXTENDED to October 26, 2018

August 02, 2018

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(Environmental Protection Agency) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) propose to amend certain existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks and establish new standards, covering model years 2021 through 2026.

Public Comments: The EPA docket will open for submittal of public comments upon publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register. Please submit comments at www.regulations.gov to Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0283.

Public Hearings: NHTSA and EPA will jointly hold three public hearings on this proposal in Washington, D.C.; in the Detroit, MI area; and in the Los Angeles, CA area. The agencies will announce the dates and locations of the hearings in a supplemental Federal Register notice.

UPDATE:

Additional Resources

Public Hearings: NHTSA and EPA will jointly hold three public hearings on the dates and at the locations listed below. The hearings will start at 10 a.m. local time and continue until 5:00 p.m. or until everyone has had a chance to speak. If you would like to present oral testimony at one of these public hearings, please contact Kil-Jae Hong (kil-jae.hong@dot.gov) at NHTSA at least ten days before the hearing. Additional information regarding the hearings is provided in the Federal Register notice for the hearings below.

September 24, 2018 Hearing in Fresno California
The Grand 1401
1401 Fulton Street
Fresno, California 93721

September 25, 2018 Hearing Dearborn Michigan
Dearborn Inn
20301 Oakwood Boulevard
Dearborn, Michigan 48124

September 26, 2018 Hearing in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel & Suites Pittsburgh Downtown
One Bigelow Square
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Hearing Federal Register notice: The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, Announcement of public hearings (PDF)(2 pp, 197 K, published August 24, 2018)

Proposed Rule: The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule for Model Years 2021-2026 Passenger Cars and Light Trucks (PDF) (978 pp, 12 MB, pre-publication, signed August 1, 2018)
Fact Sheet: Overview of the NPRM (PDF) (2 pp, 393 K, August 2018)
Fact Sheet: Overview of the Alternatives Analyzed (PDF) (4 pp, 361 K, August 2018)
Fact Sheet: Proposed California Waiver Withdrawal (PDF) (2 pp, 391 K, August 2018)
Fact Sheet: NPRM By the Numbers (PDF) (1 pg, 355 K, August 2018)
Fact Sheet: Compliance Flexibilities (PDF) (2 pp, 334 K, August 2018)
For additional information regarding this proposal including the Preliminary Regulatory Impact Analysis and modeling analysis, please see https://www.nhtsa.gov/corporate-average-fuel-economy/safe READ MORE MORE

ALEC VOTES SHOW DIVISION: (Politico's Morning Energy)

EPA challenged Trump officials' claim car efficiency rollback would save lives (The Hill)

EPA CHALLENGED AUTO SAFETY ARGUMENT: (Politico's Morning Energy)

EPA staff disputed claim fuel efficiency plan would save lives (Reuters)

New Trump’s fuel-efficient vehicle rule reflects NGV industry efforts (NGV Journal)

EPA, NHTSA open 60-day comment period on SAFE Vehicles Rule (Ethanol Producer Magazine)

About those hearings: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Excerpts from Politico's Morning Energy: Industry members of the American Legislative Exchange Council were divided last week at the conservative group's annual meeting in New Orleans in votes on vehicle efficiency standards and energy subsidies, a sign of divisions within the group over the Trump administration's aggressive deregulatory agenda.

State lawmakers on the energy task force voted unanimously to support the administration's moves to roll back auto standards, but industry members voted narrowly to approve the model resolution, passing it 15-11, according to one of a handful of sources ME talked to who were present at the meeting. Attendees spoke to POLITICO on the condition of anonymity because the vote breakdowns are intended to be private.

A second resolution — which would have opposed subsidies for "vehicles, energy, fuels, and fueling infrastructure" — failed, with state lawmakers on the commerce task force narrowly voting for the measure, and private-sector members voting against it by a few votes, according to a different source. ALEC staffers did not respond to confirm the vote outcomes. Measures are not final until ALEC's board approves them. READ MORE

Excerpts from The Hill: In their unified rule dubbed the “Safer and Affordable Fuel Efficient Vehicles Rule,” the agencies said the rollback would save 1,000 lives per year and save consumers thousands of dollars on new vehicles.

But documents released Tuesday show that there was significant disagreement over those conclusions.

EPA’s modeling resulted in “safety outcomes that show the proposed standards are detrimental to safety,” including an additional 17 traffic deaths per year between 2036 and 2045, the report said.

The EPA also found technology costs $500 lower for the more efficient cars than NHTSA, and a consumer payback period about two-thirds shorter. The agency also accused NHTSA of inflating the number of old, less safe cars that would stay on the road if newer cars had to be more efficient.

NHTSA defended its estimates in June, saying that its predictions about the vehicle market “would be much more reasonable to expect.”

The documents show that the EPA and NHTSA often clashed in formulating the policy, with the EPA frequently accusing NHTSA of using incorrect modeling and misinterpreting studies in ways that boosted the case for the rollback.

The records were part of the White House’s review process for the proposal. Such documents are normally released in the days following a proposal’s publication. READ MORE

Excerpts from Politico's Morning Energy: The first public hearing runs today in Fresno, Calif. On Tuesday, Dearborn, Mich. gets its turn at the mic, and EPA ends with a day of testimony in Pittsburgh, Pa. More details on the hearings are here. Expect to hear from a few state officials in addition to the usual coterie of environmental activists. For example, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is already suing EPA over its decision to roll back its emissions standards, said on Friday he plans to speak at the Fresno hearing today. READ MORE