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Vehicle fuel efficiency rule issued
DOT and EPA finalize regulations requiring 1.5 percent improvement per year to 2026 in fuel efficiency for cars and light trucks Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency have published a final rule for fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks for vehicle model years 2021 to 2026. The rule specifies formulae for determining the required efficiencies for vehicle models, based on the square footages of vehicle footprints. Essentially, the efficiency standard amounts to a required efficiency improvement of 1.5% per year. The agency had announced a proposed rulemaking in August 2018 - the final rule now incorporates adjustments based on public comments on the proposed rule. The rule leaves the current regulated limits for vehicle methane and nitrogen oxide emissions unchanged.
Updates 2012 rule In 2012 the Obama administration issued efficiency standards for model years 2017 and beyond, with the standards forming part of the administration’s policies targeting the reduction of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. However, under the terms of the relevant statutes, the administration could not enforce these standards beyond 2021 - the new rule, in effect, puts in place standards forward from that 2021 time limit.
The 2012 rule envisaged fuel efficiency improvements of around 5% per year over that same time period, according to an opinion piece by Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation, and Andrew Wheeler, EPA Administrator, published in the cleveland.com website on April 3.
Supports president’s policy Chao and Wheeler characterized the terms of the new rule as supporting President Trump’s commitment to re-invigorate the American auto manufacturing industry by rewriting costly and increasingly unachievable fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions standards. The agencies argue that, by making the standards more easily achievable, the cost of car construction will be reduced, thus making new cars more affordable. That, in turn, will lead to an increase in the sales of new cars, with a resulting use of safer and cleaner vehicles - that would lead to fewer road accidents, the agencies say.
The new rule is expected to reduce traffic fatalities by 3,300 and injuries by 397,000 during the period when the new regulations apply, Chao and Wheeler commented.
Cost-benefit analysis The cost-benefit analysis for the new regulations also takes into account the reduction in the cost of fuel since the 2012 rule was issued. Essentially, although higher fuel efficiency will lead to reduced vehicle operational costs that can offset at least some of the manufacturing costs associated with high fuel efficiency, there is a law of diminishing returns, as the fuel efficiency becomes higher, the rule argues. Hence, an adequate overall cost benefit can result from lower efficiency levels than were proposed in 2012, the rule indicates.
The analysis in the new rule considers the benefits to be gained from lower greenhouse gas emissions, as fuel efficiency rises. However, rather than considering the worldwide cost benefit that may be achieved from reduced emissions from vehicles sold in the United States, as was done in the 2012 rule, the new rule only takes into account benefits anticipated within the United States. The new rule also reduces the estimated greenhouse gas impact of regulated fuel efficiency savings by taking into account the likely impacts of reduced fuel costs and the market incentives for achieving improved fuel economy.
Also, in September the federal administration issued its One National Program Rule, clarifying that federal law for tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions and zero emissions vehicles preempts state and local law. This rule also withdrew a waiver to preemption, granted to California in 2013, allowing California to enforce its own vehicle greenhouse gas and zero emissions programs. The rule has been challenged in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
A controversial issue The extent to which vehicle emissions in the United States should be restricted has proven controversial. In a March 31 press release, environmental law firm Earthjustice said that automobile manufacturers, 18 states, the District of Columbia, and a coalition of cities and counties have opposed the new standards.
“In the midst of a public health crisis, the Trump administration is once again putting oil industry profits ahead of the American people,” said Earthjustice attorney Paul Cort. “Weakening clean car standards will dramatically increase air pollution and harm public health. Transportation is the largest source of carbon pollution in the country, and this move undercuts one of our most important tools to solve the climate crisis.”
On the other hand, on April 6 the American Energy Alliance announced that a coalition of 48 small business and consumer groups, led by the Alliance, had sent a letter to President Trump, supporting the new vehicle fuel efficiency rule.
“President Trump inherited a … mandate from his predecessor that was impossible to achieve without dramatically altering the automobile market or making the cost of vehicles out of reach for most American families,” said Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance. “This new … rule will make cars more affordable for consumers at a time when they need it the most. The rule puts power back into the hands of drivers, not bureaucrats, and most importantly it will save lives.”
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