U.S. DOT and EPA Issue Final Rule on Fuel Economy Standards
The final rule will increase stringency of CAFE and carbon dioxide emissions standards by 1.5% each year through model year 2026.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released the final Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule, setting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) and CO2 emissions standards for model years 2021-2026 for passenger cars and light trucks. The final rule will increase stringency of CAFE and CO2 emissions standards by 1.5% each year through model year 2026. This is compared with the standards issued in 2012, which would have required about 5% annual increases. This is a change from the proposal issued in 2018.
NHTSA is required by Federal law to set fuel economy standards at the maximum feasible level for both passenger cars and light trucks for every model year. If NHTSA determines that standards previously set are no longer maximum feasible, NHTSA can amend them. In determining what levels of CAFE standards would be maximum feasible, the law directs NHTSA to consider four factors: technological feasibility, economic practicability, the effect of other motor vehicle standards of the government on fuel economy, and the nation’s need to conserve energy.