WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Vice Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee today introduced legislation to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 40 miles per gallon by 2017, if not sooner. 

 

 

This bill will clarify the Secretary of Transportation’s authority to raise and reform current CAFE standards for passenger automobiles, and allow the Secretary to prescribe standards for different classes of automobiles based on one or more vehicle attributes.  It will require the Secretary to issue CAFE standards for any model year at least 18 months before the beginning of that particular model year.

 

The bill also will amend existing criteria that the Secretary must consider when promulgating CAFE standards to include motor vehicle safety, the effect of the standard on emissions, and the need of the United States to reduce its dependency on oil.  It prohibits any CAFE regulation that would require a “uniform percentage increase” by manufacturer, and require that any regulation pass a cost/benefit test.  

 

This legislation also requires the Secretary of Commerce to establish a national registry system for greenhouse gas trading of credits.  Participation in the registry would be voluntary, and any entity conducting business in the United States would be eligible to utilize the services of the registry.  Therefore, automobile manufacturers would be able to contribute or purchase a limited number of emissions credits with other industries that generate greenhouse gases in order to achieve compliance with CAFE standards.