EPA to Reopen Fuel Efficiency Review Next Week: Report

As we reported last week, automobile industry groups wasted no time lobbying newly minted Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt to reopen the book on the country’s fuel efficiency targets.

That volume had previously been slammed shut by Pruitt’s predecessor, putting an end to a midterm review and cementing the Obama-era light-duty vehicle target of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Automakers would prefer not to be held to this rule, citing higher sticker prices caused by the addition of fuel-saving technology. Meanwhile, consumer and environmental groups have lobbied to keep the targets in place.

Well, according to a new report, the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard might not survive for long. Automakers, apparently, are about to see a wish come true.

First reported by Reuters, sources claim that the EPA will announce a reopening of the midterm review next week. After seeing a draft order for the restart, the source said the EPA is expected to work with the U.S. Transportation Department on the file.

The move would give almost all automakers, including the Detroit Three, a chance to see CAFE rolled back, even though the EPA previously stated that reaching 54.5 mpg was within the limits of existing technology.

Past EPA officials aren’t happy. Margo Oge, director of the EPA’s office of transportation and air quality from 1994 to 2012, told the Washington Post that its earlier decision was the right one.

“If the Trump administration were to rely on facts and sound science, they would come to the same conclusion that the EPA staff and outside experts reached: The 2025 standards are achievable and in a way that will save consumers trillions in fuel costs,” Oge said.

California seems ready to throw up legal barriers to stop any rollback of CAFE, or of its authority to set emissions rules for automakers. The state will “vigorously parti­cipate and defend ourselves,” said California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols.

California’s legal defenders include former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, hired as a legal adviser earlier this year.