NHTSA and EPA establish new federal program to improve fuel economy and curb greenhouse gas emissions

April 02, 2010

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On April 1, 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a joint final rule establishing a new National Program to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy for new cars and trucks sold in the United States.

The combined EPA and NHTSA standards that make up this National Program apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016. The new CAFE standards, issued by NHTSA, alone will require passenger cars and light trucks to meet an estimated combined average 34.1 mile per gallon (mpg) level by MY 2016. The combined standards, which include GHG emissions standards, will require these vehicles to meet an estimated combined average emissions level of 250 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, equivalent to 35.5 miles per gallon (MPG) if the automobile industry were to meet this carbon dioxide level solely through fuel economy improvements.

These rules were developed in response to President Obama’s call for a National Fuel Efficiency Policy, a strong and coordinated federal fuel economy and GHG program for passenger cars and light trucks. The rules represent a coordinated program that will achieve substantial improvements in fuel economy and reductions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the light-duty vehicle part of the transportation sector, based on technology that will be commercially available and that can be incorporated at a reasonable cost.

For a look at the entire rule, click here or here

PHH’s Karen Healey and Environmental Defense Fund’s Jason Mathers are quoted in an article on Greenbiz regarding the effect of this ruling on corporate fleets here.

Tags:  Environmental initiatives