3 Congressmen ask for more time to comment on CAFE rules

3 Congressmen ask for more time to comment on CAFE rules

The chairman and two members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have asked for an extension in the public comment period for the draft midterm evaluation of fuel economy standards for MY 2022 to 2025.

The draft report, written by the Environmental Protection Agency, NHTSA and the California Air Resources Board, was released in July and reported on in a previous Bulletin. The report said that automakers would likely not meet the fleetwide goal of 54.5 mpg by 2025, thanks to consumersê increasing preference for SUVs and light trucks as gas prices stay low. But the agencies do not plan to change the fuel economy goal. Automakers and NADA have expressed concern about meeting the 2025 goal, with NADA saying that it will price consumers out of the market.

Comments on the draft report are being accepted until September 26. The Congressmen Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) have requested an extension of the comment period to November 26. (Rep. Whitfield later announced his resignation from Congress as of September 6, following an ethics investigation last year.)

–The current comment period does not provide the necessary time for an adequate public review,” the Congressmen wrote in a letter to NHTSA and EPA. –The Draft [report] exceeds 1,000 pages in length, contains extensive technical information and references a large number of supporting documents.”