Reset fuel economy standards to levels reachable by combustion engines
What the document says“The next Administration must return the federal fuel economy program to the limits established by Congress.”
The chapter states that the 1975 statute directs the department to set the maximum feasible mileage requirements achievable with combustion technology, and not so high as to stop automakers profitably meeting demand. It says standards must be reset at levels technologically feasible for combustion vehicles and consistent with increased domestic production, and suggests considering a return to the model year 2020 levels aimed at a fleet-wide average of 35 miles per gallon.
What the document actually says“The next Administration must return the federal fuel economy program to the limits established by Congress.”
Put the fuel rules back inside the limits Congress set.
Cars must average a set number of miles per gallon. The book says the target went too high. It says it should go back to what the law allows.
Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program
2025-06-11 · 90 FR 24518
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an interpretive rule on June 11, 2025 titled Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program. It sets out the factors the agency reads the law to forbid it from considering when it sets maximum feasible standards under the 1975 and 2007 statutes, describes this as the legal foundation for bringing both the passenger car program and the medium and heavy duty program into compliance with those statutes, and says the agency will exercise its enforcement authority over existing standards according to that reading. That is the chapter's argument about statutory limits carried into agency practice. The fit breaks down because an interpretive rule does not set mileage numbers: replacement standards are left to a later rulemaking, so the levels the chapter asks for, feasible for combustion vehicles, are not yet in place, and the rule takes no position on returning to model year 2020 levels.
A federal road safety agency put out a rule on June 11, 2025. It lists the things the law bars it from weighing when it sets gas mileage rules. The agency calls this the legal base for fixing the car and truck programs. But the rule sets no mileage numbers, and new limits are left for later.