By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of 26 attorneys general led by West Virginia and Kentucky challenged the Biden administration’s new fuel economy rules on Wednesday, calling the requirements unworkable and saying they would force automakers to build more electric vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration earlier this month finalized stricter vehicle fuel economy rules through 2031, which are significantly less stringent than initially proposed.
NHTSA said it would increase corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements to about 50.4 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2031, from 39.1 mpg currently. The new requirement is barely above the 49 mpg previously required for 2026.
Republican attorneys general and oil industry groups have challenged some of the Biden administration’s regulatory efforts to increase vehicle efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the number of electric vehicles, while Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to repeal the Biden administration’s EV rules.
The lawsuit by the attorneys general, filed in the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, says the rule “exceeds the agency’s statutory authority and is otherwise arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and inconsistent with law.”
NHTSA did not immediately comment.
In July 2023, NHTSA proposed increasing CAFE requirements by 2% per year for passenger cars and 4% per year for light trucks from 2027 through 2032. However, the final regulations do not provide for an increase for light trucks for 2027 and 2028 and only require a 2% increase between 2029 and 2031.
Last year, NHTSA said its proposal to increase fuel economy standards through 2032 would cost the industry $14 billion in penalties over five years. Under the final rule, the auto industry will collectively face a total of $1.83 billion in fines between 2027 and 2031 — or it could be as little as nothing, NHTSA said.
It was the third action President Joe Biden’s administration has taken in recent months that has made proposals for vehicle regulations less stringent than originally promised. New compliance calculations for electric cars that were less stringent than proposed, and new tailpipe rules that would ultimately require automakers to make fewer electric cars than they originally predicted.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
