In December 2007, the US Congress passed the "Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007" (EISA) which directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish new regulations for regulating Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE). On May 2, 2008, NHTSA issued in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and also a Request For Comments in response to this EISA Congressional mandate (Docket No. NHTSA-2008-0089).
NHTSA says that under this NPRM, the fuel economy on a fleet-wide basis would increase by an average of four-and-a-half percent annually through 2015 - a 25 percent improvement over five years. This proposed regulation would then exceed the 3.3 percent average annual increase needed to reach the target passed by the US Congress last year.
- For passenger cars, this means increasing fuel economy from the current 27.5 miles per gallon standard to an industry average of 35.7 miles per gallon by 2015.
- For light trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 miles per gallon in 2010 to 28.6 miles per gallon in 2015.
NHTSA says that this proposal will save nearly 55 billion gallons of fuel over the lifetime of the vehicles affected (which are those in model years 2011 through 2015) and will also save over $100 billion in fuel costs over the lifetime of those vehicles. NHTSA states that the standards in this proposal would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 521 million metric tons.
Finally, as required by EISA, this NPRM allows for automakers to earn credits for exceeding CAFE requirements.
Comments from interested parties must be received by NHTSA on or before July 1, 2008.