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National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA AND EPA ESTABLISH NEW NATIONAL PROGRAM
TO IMPROVE FUEL ECONOMY AND REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS FOR PASSENGER CARS AND LIGHT TRUCKS
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are issuing a joint final rule establishing a new
National Program to regulate model year 2012 through 2016 passenger cars and light
trucks in order to improve fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. NHTSA
is issuing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for MY 2012-2016
passenger cars and light trucks under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA)
and Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). EPA is issuing national greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. While NHTSA has been setting
fuel economy standards since the 1970s, today’s action represents the first-ever joint final
rule by NHTSA with another agency.
The CAFE standards will apply to passenger cars and light trucks – categories
which span the range of vehicles from sedans to crossovers to pickup trucks to vans –
manufactured in model years 2012 through 2016. They will require these vehicles to
meet an estimated combined average mile per gallon (mpg) level of 34.1 by MY 2016.
Together with EPA’s standards, which also enable manufacturers to achieve compliance
by improving the air conditioners of their vehicles, the National Program overall is
expected to result in improvement levels equivalent to 35.5 mpg.
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These rules were developed in response to President Obama’s call for a National
Fuel Efficiency Policy, a strong and coordinated federal fuel economy and GHG program
for passenger cars and light trucks.
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The rules represent a coordinated program that will
achieve substantial improvements in fuel economy and reductions of greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions from the light-duty vehicle part of the transportation sector, based on
technology that will be commerciall