The Obama administration is pushing to lock in fuel efficiency standards before the Trump administration takes over in January.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to leave its emissions standards for light vehicles through 2025, aiming to boost fuel economy to over 50 mpg on average. The move will likely be opposed by automakers that say the rules are challenging and expensive, although the EPA said “extensive technical analysis” shows automakers are on track to achieve the 2025 standards at “similar or even a lower cost” than believed when the standards were first released in 2012.
SEE ALSO: EPA Gives Up on 54.5-MPG CAFE Standard
The EPA under law has to decide by April 2018 whether it wants to modify the 2022-2025 model year vehicle emission rules that require fleet-wide fuel efficiency to average more than 50 mpg. The agency will now instead end the public comment period by December 30, and could move to lock in the rules after that date and before the Obama administration leaves office.
It is a possibility that the Republican U.S. Congress or the Trump administration could seek to reverse or modify the rules, but if the current EPA rules are locked in, it could make it more difficult and time consuming for the new administration to reverse them.
[Source: Automotive News]
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