Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a coalition of 26 states, counties, and cities, filing a lawsuit against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) final rule weakening corporate average fuel economy standards. Historically, NHTSA’s standards have increased fuel efficiency for vehicles, which, according to the Attorney General’s press release, reduces consumer costs, protects the economy from global oil shocks, and reduces pollution.
Key Points:
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- In 1975, Congress enacted the Energy Policy and Conservation Act requiring NHTSA to establish “maximum feasible” fuel economy standards for new vehicles.
- The standards are to be based on technological feasibility, economic practicability, the effect of other motor vehicle standards of the government, and the need to conserve energy.
- The lawsuit alleges that NHTSA’s new rule is contrary to law and that it contravenes its mandate from Congress to set fuel economy standards at their “maximum feasible” level.
- It also alleges NHTSA improperly forces the agency to ignore the presence of millions of electric vehicles, leading to a flawed and dramatically distorted analysis.
- The lawsuit alleges the final rule is arbitrary and capricious and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
In filing this lawsuit, Attorney General Nessel joins the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the City and County of San Francisco, as well as the City of Chicago, the City and County of Denver, and the City of New York.
