Members of the House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to block the EPA from setting new limits or granting California a waiver to impose its own similar rules for the 2017 through 2025 model years, according to The Detroit News. The vote by the Republican panel passed 27-20, but obviously faces many challenges before ever going becoming law.
As it stands now, both the Obama administration and CARB intend to produce their own proposed regulations for the 2017-25 model years no later than September 30th of this year. Obama already proposed a fleetwide average fuel economy rating of 56.2 miles per gallon to be required for 2025 model year vehicles.
Because of the fact that there is not currently a long-term national standard in place, many automakers are finding themselves torn on where to stand on the issue. In some regards having a single set of standards to prepare for that would be nationwide would provide much-needed guidance, but on the other hand many automakers feel the proposed changes may be a bit ambitious – increasing the price of new vehicles by at least a couple thousands dollars.
Despite the double-edged sword, some groups, including the National Automobile Dealers Association, have already praised the new amendment that would stop both the federal government and individual states from creating new regulations for one year. NADA argued, “New car dealers support fuel economy increases, but additional hikes in standards for model years 2017-2025, coming three years earlier than the law requires, may prevent car buyers from finding the vehicles that fit their needs at prices they can afford.”
