Two rulemaking notices, part of Title 49 CFR, Part 533 Light Truck Fuel Economy Standards, were published simultaneously in the Federal Register on December 29, 2003. These are an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) and a Request for Comments (RFC). Both of these documents go together and involve efforts to research and possibly reform the Automobile Fuel Economy Standards Program.
The ANPRM seeks comments relating to possible enhancements to the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program that will assist in furthering fuel conservation while protecting vehicle safety and the economic vitality of the auto industry. There are several questions that the agency hopes to gain comments on, such as: Is the energy saving potential hampered by the dual CAFE standards for passenger cars and light trucks? Are there safety risks associated with the downweighting effect to achieve fuel economy? Will there be large adverse economic effects associated with increased stringency of CAFE standards? Should the weight limit imposed on trucks be extended from 8500 lbs. to 10,000 lbs? Should SUV's and other passenger carrying truck vehicles be treated separately from trucks? Should the definitions of light trucks and passenger cars be revised? And several other questions as well.
The RFC seeks to acquire information regarding vehicle manufactures' future product plans, such as to assist the agency in analyzing possible reforms to the current CAFE program. The agency is seeking information that will help it assess the effect of these possible reforms on fuel economy, manufacturers, consumers, the economy, motor vehicle safety and American jobs. As such the agency is requesting a number of questions involving manufacturers' product plans from MY 2003 through MY 2012. The agency is particularly interested in improvements to the structure of the CAFE program authorized under current statutory authority. The focus of this document is to solicit comment on the structure of the CAFE program, not the stringency level for a future CAFE standard.
For the RFC, NHTSA has developed spreadsheets for the preferred format of submitting the requested
information to them. These spreadsheets can be found on NHTSA's website at:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/CAFE/rulemaking.htm
Comments on both notices are due to NHTSA on or before April 27, 2004.