Archive
Jun 2010
Joint NHTSA and EPA Final Ruling on a National Plan for CAFE and GHG Emissions.
On May 7th, NHTSA and EPA jointly published in the Federal Register a Final Rule [RIN 2060-AP58 and RIN 2127-AK50] which contained requirements for a National Plan on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG). This joint final rule is consistent with the National Fuel Efficiency Policy announced by President Obama last year on May 19th, 2009.
May 2010
Draft Implementing Regulations for the EC Regulation on General Safety Published
When EC Regulation No. 661/2009 concerning "type approval requirements for the general safety of motor vehicles, their trailers and systems, components and separate technical units intended therefor" (often referred to as the General Safety Regulation or GSR) was published, one of its stated aims was to "simplify" the type approval legislation. This "legislative simplification" was achieved by repealing 50 of the "separate" EC Directives and replacing them with references to the corresponding Regulations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE). However, for some of the "separate" EC Directives that were repealed by (EC) No. 661/2009, no corresponding UN ECE Regulation currently exists. In these instances, the European Commission plan to issue "implementing" Regulations to replace the repealed Directives.
Apr 2010
USA DOT Proposal to Upgrade Regulation on Vehicle Labeling of Safety Rating Information to Reflect Enhanced NCAP Ratings Program.
On March 9, 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend Part 575 Consumer Information to upgrade its regulation on vehicle labeling of safety rating information to reflect the enhanced New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) [Vol.75, Number 45; Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0025].
Mar 2010
Revised ECE Test Procedures for the Fuel Consumption and Emissions Testing of Externally Chargeable Hybrid Electric Vehicles.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) have recently published amendments to their Regulations on emissions and fuel consumption to introduce an alternative test procedure for the testing of externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (i.e. hybrid electric vehicles which have an off vehicle charging (OVC) capability).
Feb 2010
New EC Regulation on Tyre Labelling.
On 22nd December 2009, a new EC Regulation on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential parameters was published. This new regulation, (EC) No. 1222/2009, requires all new tyres to carry a label showing the tyre's fuel efficiency (i.e. rolling resistance), wet grip and noise performance using a ranking system which ranges from "A" (best performance) to "G" (worst performance).
Jan 2010
NHTSA Proposes New Regulation to Mitigate Occupant Ejection in both Vehicle Side Impact and Rollover.
NHTSA has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to add a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 226 "Ejection Mitigation" in Part 571 and also new "Phase-in Reporting Requirements" in Part 585. This proposed new standard was developed to reduce both partial and complete ejection of vehicle occupants through side windows in crashes, particularly rollover crashes.
Dec 2009
EC Proposal on Mandatory CO2 Emissions Limits for Light Commercial Vehicles.
Following the publication of EC Regulation No. 443/2009, which introduced mandatory carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions limits for new passenger cars, the European Commission have now published a proposal for an equivalent Regulation covering new light commercial vehicles (i.e. N1 category vehicles).
Nov 2009
New USA Government Interagency Program to Address Climate Change and Energy Security.
NHTSA and the EPA have proposed a new and historic national program to improve CAFE and reduce GHG emissions in the USA.
Oct 2009
USA DOT Propose Requirement for Automatic Window Reversal System.
NHTSA have published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend FMVSS 118 - Power-Operated Window, Partition and Roof Panel Systems to require an automatic reversal system (ARS) for windows that close with one touch of a switch.
Sep 2009
New EC Regulation on General Safety.
On 31st July 2009, Regulation (EC) No. 661/2009 was published which radically changes the structure and format of the European Union's type approval legislation and introduces a large number of new technical requirements.