American regulators to roll back vehicle efficiency requirements

WASHINGTON: A draft proposal by federal regulators to roll back United States vehicle efficiency requirements contends that their preferred plan would reduce “societal costs” by roughly half a trillion dollars through 2029, while increasing US fuel consumption by 500,000 barrels per day.

The assertions are detailed in an undated draft of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joint proposal to halt higher vehicle efficiency requirements after 2020.

The agencies are poised to propose a dramatic overhaul of tough efficiency rules set during the Obama administration — freezing mileage targets from 2020 through 2026 instead of raising them each year.

The plan will also propose revoking California’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars and light trucks and its mandate for electric vehicle sales in the state.

“Put simply, the information available today is different from the information before the agencies in 2012, and even from the information considered by EPA in 2016 and early last year,” said the agencies.

Under the proposal, new cars and light trucks would be required to average about 37 miles (59.5km) per gallon (mpg) from 2020 through 2026, instead of increasing over time to roughly 47 mpg under standards adopted by the Obama administration, according to the draft.

In the preamble, the administration says the changes “would reduce societal costs by about half a trillion dollars and reduce highway fatalities by up to a thousand lives annually.”

The estimate required projecting costs out through 2029. Societal costs can include elements including estimates of rising or falling air pollution, traffic accidents, road congestion, noise and energy security threats.

NHTSA and EPA submitted their joint proposal for review by White House regulatory officials in late May.

That process is still ongoing, according to a government website that tracks the reviews.