Automobile and Light Truck Fuel Economy: The CAFE Standards (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised May 7, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL33413 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Brent D. Yacobucci and Robert Bamberger, Resources, Science, and Industry Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
On April 22, 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) that would establish fuel economy standards for model year (MY) 2011-MY2015 passenger cars and light trucks. The rulemaking is in followup to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140), enacted in mid-December 2007, which restructured the automotive fuel economy program. It established a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard of 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by MY2020 for the combined passenger automobile and light truck fleet. However, to meet the combined standard, automakers will continue the practice of calculating the CAFE of their car and light truck fleets separately. The proposed rule would establish passenger car fuel economy at 31.2 mpg in MY2011, increasing to 35.7 mpg in MY2015. For trucks, the comparable goals for compliance are 25.0 to 28.6 mpg. Lastly, the design of the program will be 'attribute' based; every model of new vehicle will have its own target, based on the vehicle's footprint. [â¦] A November 15, 2007, decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a final rule issued by NHTSA for MY2008-MY2011 light trucks. The Court ruled that NHTSA had not conducted a sufficiently rigorous analysis to measure whether the standards would have a beneficial effect in improving environmental quality through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis accompanying the NOPR for MY2011-MY2015 appears intended to address the deficiencies identified by the Court in the earlier rulemaking.
