Trump administration issues final vehicle emission rules

Pittsburgh — After nearly two years, the Trump Administration on Tuesday issued the final Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule, setting sharply lower corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) and CO2 emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks than the previous standards set under the Obama administration.

The final rule will increase the stringency of CAFE and CO2 emissions standards by 1.5% each year through model year 2026, as compared with the standards issued in 2012, which would have required about 5% annual increases, the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Tuesday.

In 2012, the Obama administration issued regulations requiring car and truck fleets to average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. In April 2018, the Trump administration said the emissions standards were not appropriate and should be revised.

The American Iron and Steel Institute has been supportive of the EPA's move to reexamine the regulations.

"We believe that an overly stringent standard that optimizes tailpipe-only GHG emissions and fuel economy improvements – to the exclusion of other necessary and important design factors – would result in increased costs to consumers and negative effects on the environment," AISI CEO Thomas Gibson said last September. "We also continue to support efforts to reach a one national program solution, as we believe this is best for automakers, the automotive supply chain including the steel industry, consumers and the economy as a whole."