Released June 17, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Biden administration issued a final rule increasing vehicle mileage standards it calculated would save drivers billions of dollars in fuel costs and keep an estimated hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air. Naturally, in hyper-partisan Washington, D.C., any move by a Democratic president is decried by Republicans, who have vowed to block it using the Congressional Review Act. Litigation also is possible. And, should Donald Trump be elected president in November, he likely will reverse it.
The final rule on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, issued June 7 by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (Washington, D.C.), represents a slight pullback from the administration's earlier draft rule on CAFE standards, issued last summer. For more on that draft rule, see August 4, 2023, article - DOT Seeks Higher Vehicle Fuel-Economy Standards Starting with Model Year 2027.
In this June 7 final rule, fuel economy will increase 2% per year for model years 2027-2031 for passenger cars. Light trucks' fuel efficiency will grow 2% per year for model years 2029-2031. These increases will bring the average light-duty vehicle fuel economy up to approximately 50.4 miles per gallon (MPG) by model year 2031, saving passenger car and light truck owners more than $600 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles, the NHTSA said in a statement.
The NHTSA added that heavy-duty pickup truck and van fuel efficiency will increase 10% per year for model years 2030-2032 and 8% per year for model years 2033-2035. This will result in a fleetwide average of approximately 35 miles per gallon by model year 2035, saving heavy-duty pickup and van owners more than $700 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles.
"Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. "These standards will save car owners more than $600 in gasoline costs over the lifetime of their vehicle."
The NHTSA estimated that the final CAFE standards will save almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, preventing more than 710 million metric tons of CO2 emissions by 2050.
The new CAFE standards align with the Environmental Protection Agency's tailpipe emissions standards, the NHTSA said. Both of those rules, and others, are part of the Biden administration's commitment to take a "whole-of-government" approach to reduce CO2 emissions across various industries to fight global warming.
A significant part of that broad effort is replacing internal combustion engines (ICEs) with electric vehicles (EVs). Hefty tax credits for the purchase of new or used EVs were part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. That law also included federal incentives to construct a national EV charging network.
"Today's final rule is another important step toward reducing carbon pollution and curbing climate change," Harold Wimmer, president and chief executive of the American Lung Association (Chicago, Illinois), said in a statement. "The new fuel efficiency requirements for new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks are beneficial for consumers and for health. More efficient vehicles will save lives and money."
The auto industry opposed last year's draft vehicle mileage standards, which would have pushed fleet fuel efficiency for passenger vehicles and light trucks to an average of 58 MPG by 2032. But the NHTSA engaged with a broad outreach to stakeholders after that draft rule, including automakers. In response to the final rule issued June 7, John Bozzella, chief executive of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Washington, D.C.), said, "For today, the administration appears to have landed on a corporate average fuel economy rule that works with the other recent federal tailpipe rules." That group represents 42 car companies that produce nearly all the new vehicles sold in the United States.
While the final rule did not consider electric and other alternative fuels when setting standards, the NHTSA said vehicle manufacturers may use all available technologies--including advanced internal combustion engines, hybrid technologies and electric vehicles--to comply with the new MPG standards. Automakers can meet the new standards by both improving the fuel efficiency of their gas-burning vehicles and by boosting the number of models they produce that run on electricity.
When Congress passed the legislation creating CAFE standards in the 1970s, vehicles got less than 20 MPG. That legislation directed the Department of Transportation to set fuel efficiency standards that fulfilled the legislature's directive to conserve fuel and promote American energy independence and American automotive manufacturing, while providing flexibility to industry on how to achieve those targets, the NHTSA said.
Republican elected officials pushed back on the final efficiency rule. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the ranking minority member on the Commerce Committee, pledged to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to nullify the NHTSA's rule.
The CRA, enacted when the GOP controlled both houses of Congress in the Clinton administration, allows lawmakers to overturn executive agency regulations finalized at the end of one presidential administration. Under the CRA, any regulation finalized during the last 60 legislative days of a presidential administration can be overturned with a simple majority vote in both houses of Congress.
The CRA's 60-day legislative window is one reason various regulatory agencies in the Biden administration have pushed out final rules on various energy and environmental topics this spring. It's difficult to calculate exactly when the 60-day window opens, as it depends on the number of days Congress is in session. Congress typically takes lengthy recesses during the summer.
"The Biden administration has ignored the wishes of American consumers by declaring war against affordable gas-powered cars," Cruz said in a statement. "This (CRA) resolution will take a critical step to reverse this abuse of the executive rule-making process. I urge my colleagues to join me in blocking the radical environmentalists who want to raise car prices on the backs of American families."
Russell Coleman, Kentucky's attorney general, added this in a statement: "The Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in service of its radical green agenda. We just aren't buying it. Demand for EVs continues to fall, and even those who want to buy one can't afford it amid historic inflation."
Earlier this year, before the new CAFE standards were finalized, Fox News reported that a coalition of 120 GOP lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate called on the Biden administration to abandon the 2023 draft higher MPG standards that they and energy industry groups have characterized as a de facto EV mandate.
The 120 Republican lawmakers--led by senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Cruz and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan)--wrote to the NHTSA that higher vehicle mileage standards contained in the 2023 draft rule would raise costs, restrict consumer choice, harm businesses and degrade both U.S. energy and national security.
"We strongly urge NHTSA to withdraw its misguided proposal, go back to the drawing board and reissue new CAFE standards that comply with the law, rather than ones that seek to pick winners and losers in the free market and remake our country's economy," the GOP elected officials wrote this past January to NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman.
"Nowhere in law did Congress authorize NHTSA to set fuel economy standards that effectively mandate EVs while at the same time force the internal combustion engine out of the market," the letter continued. "In fact, federal statute expressly prohibits NHTSA from considering the fuel economy of EVs when determining maximum feasible CAFE standards for passenger cars and trucks."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The final rule on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, issued June 7 by the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (Washington, D.C.), represents a slight pullback from the administration's earlier draft rule on CAFE standards, issued last summer. For more on that draft rule, see August 4, 2023, article - DOT Seeks Higher Vehicle Fuel-Economy Standards Starting with Model Year 2027.
In this June 7 final rule, fuel economy will increase 2% per year for model years 2027-2031 for passenger cars. Light trucks' fuel efficiency will grow 2% per year for model years 2029-2031. These increases will bring the average light-duty vehicle fuel economy up to approximately 50.4 miles per gallon (MPG) by model year 2031, saving passenger car and light truck owners more than $600 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles, the NHTSA said in a statement.
The NHTSA added that heavy-duty pickup truck and van fuel efficiency will increase 10% per year for model years 2030-2032 and 8% per year for model years 2033-2035. This will result in a fleetwide average of approximately 35 miles per gallon by model year 2035, saving heavy-duty pickup and van owners more than $700 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles.
"Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. "These standards will save car owners more than $600 in gasoline costs over the lifetime of their vehicle."
The NHTSA estimated that the final CAFE standards will save almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, preventing more than 710 million metric tons of CO2 emissions by 2050.
The new CAFE standards align with the Environmental Protection Agency's tailpipe emissions standards, the NHTSA said. Both of those rules, and others, are part of the Biden administration's commitment to take a "whole-of-government" approach to reduce CO2 emissions across various industries to fight global warming.
A significant part of that broad effort is replacing internal combustion engines (ICEs) with electric vehicles (EVs). Hefty tax credits for the purchase of new or used EVs were part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. That law also included federal incentives to construct a national EV charging network.
"Today's final rule is another important step toward reducing carbon pollution and curbing climate change," Harold Wimmer, president and chief executive of the American Lung Association (Chicago, Illinois), said in a statement. "The new fuel efficiency requirements for new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks are beneficial for consumers and for health. More efficient vehicles will save lives and money."
The auto industry opposed last year's draft vehicle mileage standards, which would have pushed fleet fuel efficiency for passenger vehicles and light trucks to an average of 58 MPG by 2032. But the NHTSA engaged with a broad outreach to stakeholders after that draft rule, including automakers. In response to the final rule issued June 7, John Bozzella, chief executive of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Washington, D.C.), said, "For today, the administration appears to have landed on a corporate average fuel economy rule that works with the other recent federal tailpipe rules." That group represents 42 car companies that produce nearly all the new vehicles sold in the United States.
While the final rule did not consider electric and other alternative fuels when setting standards, the NHTSA said vehicle manufacturers may use all available technologies--including advanced internal combustion engines, hybrid technologies and electric vehicles--to comply with the new MPG standards. Automakers can meet the new standards by both improving the fuel efficiency of their gas-burning vehicles and by boosting the number of models they produce that run on electricity.
When Congress passed the legislation creating CAFE standards in the 1970s, vehicles got less than 20 MPG. That legislation directed the Department of Transportation to set fuel efficiency standards that fulfilled the legislature's directive to conserve fuel and promote American energy independence and American automotive manufacturing, while providing flexibility to industry on how to achieve those targets, the NHTSA said.
Republican elected officials pushed back on the final efficiency rule. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the ranking minority member on the Commerce Committee, pledged to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to nullify the NHTSA's rule.
The CRA, enacted when the GOP controlled both houses of Congress in the Clinton administration, allows lawmakers to overturn executive agency regulations finalized at the end of one presidential administration. Under the CRA, any regulation finalized during the last 60 legislative days of a presidential administration can be overturned with a simple majority vote in both houses of Congress.
The CRA's 60-day legislative window is one reason various regulatory agencies in the Biden administration have pushed out final rules on various energy and environmental topics this spring. It's difficult to calculate exactly when the 60-day window opens, as it depends on the number of days Congress is in session. Congress typically takes lengthy recesses during the summer.
"The Biden administration has ignored the wishes of American consumers by declaring war against affordable gas-powered cars," Cruz said in a statement. "This (CRA) resolution will take a critical step to reverse this abuse of the executive rule-making process. I urge my colleagues to join me in blocking the radical environmentalists who want to raise car prices on the backs of American families."
Russell Coleman, Kentucky's attorney general, added this in a statement: "The Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in service of its radical green agenda. We just aren't buying it. Demand for EVs continues to fall, and even those who want to buy one can't afford it amid historic inflation."
Earlier this year, before the new CAFE standards were finalized, Fox News reported that a coalition of 120 GOP lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate called on the Biden administration to abandon the 2023 draft higher MPG standards that they and energy industry groups have characterized as a de facto EV mandate.
The 120 Republican lawmakers--led by senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Cruz and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan)--wrote to the NHTSA that higher vehicle mileage standards contained in the 2023 draft rule would raise costs, restrict consumer choice, harm businesses and degrade both U.S. energy and national security.
"We strongly urge NHTSA to withdraw its misguided proposal, go back to the drawing board and reissue new CAFE standards that comply with the law, rather than ones that seek to pick winners and losers in the free market and remake our country's economy," the GOP elected officials wrote this past January to NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman.
"Nowhere in law did Congress authorize NHTSA to set fuel economy standards that effectively mandate EVs while at the same time force the internal combustion engine out of the market," the letter continued. "In fact, federal statute expressly prohibits NHTSA from considering the fuel economy of EVs when determining maximum feasible CAFE standards for passenger cars and trucks."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
