Recent Projects

In December 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a rule that updates civil penalties for car manufacturers that violate fuel economy standards. NHTSA is now reconsidering the rule, claiming it would have a significant negative economic impact. The agency provides no evidence that economic circumstances have changed since the rule’s finalization to make the rule more costly. Our comments argue that the agency should not proceed with the proposed reconsideration, because it inadequately explained why it changed positions. If the agency does continue with the reconsideration, both the Inflation Adjustment Act and economic cost-benefit analysis would justify an update to the penalties rates rather than maintaining the original penalty rate from 1975.

Vehicle fuel economy standards set by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by making cars more fuel efficient. Our comments on the reconsideration argue that NHTSA should value the social cost of those emissions as robustly as possible, as they have done in the past. We encourage NHTSA to consider the social cost of greenhouse gases in both the rule’s Environmental Impact Statement and Regulatory Impact Analysis, and that it should use estimates considering global damages of climate change using a three percent or lower discount rate.

We recently submitted two sets of comments to the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on their greenhouse gas standards for trucks.

Driven by growth in the production of oil in the U.S. and Canada, there has been a significant increase in rail transportation of crude oil over the past five years, with a corresponding increase in the number of accidents. Many oil trains pass through sensitive environmental habitats and densely populated areas, and even share track with commuter trains in some regions.

The DOT and EPA finalized fuel efficiency standards today for cars and light duty trucks, increasing fuel efficiency to 54.5 mpg by Model Year 2025. The agencies calculate that consumer savings under the new standards will be comparable to lowering the price of gasoline by $1 per gallon by 2025.

Cars that hit the streets in 2017 through 2025 will run on far less fuel than they do now. Last summer, the Obama Administration announced a deal with automakers aiming to up the average to 56 miles per gallon and EPA-DOT proposed a new rule that would hold them to that standard.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced new restrictions to the amount of time truckers can spend behind the wheel. DOT maintained an 11-hour limit on truck drivers’ hours, scaling back a proposal to give them more rest. The rule does introduce some new limits, including a reduction a driver’s maximum work week by 12 hours to 70 hours.

Policy Integrity submitted an amicus brief today on a federal court case challenging the EPA’s ability to regulate emissions from motor vehicles. Some industry groups and states are contesting the validity of the EPA and NHTSA’s (National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration) “Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards” finalized last year.

Today, the EPA and DOT announced new fuel-efficiency labels for cars. The new stickers will give shoppers detail on the environmental elements of vehicles—miles per gallon, greenhouse gas ratings and smog emissions.

Today, Policy Integrity submitted comments to the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.