New fuel standards announced for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Environmental Protection Agency have released the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles. NHTSA’s final fuel consumption standards and EPA’s final carbon dioxide emissions standards are tailored to each of three regulatory categories of heavy-duty vehicles: 1. Combination Tractors; 2. Heavy-duty Pickup Trucks and Vans; and 3. Vocational Vehicles. The rules include separate standards for the engines that power combination tractors and vocational vehicles.

EPA’s final greenhouse gas emission standards under the Clean Air Act will begin with model year 2014. NHTSA’s final fuel consumption standards under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 will be voluntary in model years 2014 and 2015, becoming mandatory with model year 2016 for most regulatory categories. Commercial trailers are not regulated in this phase of the Heavy-Duty National Program.

The agencies estimate that the combined standards will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 270 million metric tons and save 530 million barrels of oil over the life of vehicles sold during the 2014 through 2018 model years, providing over $7 billion in net societal benefits, and $49 billion in net societal benefits when private fuel savings are considered.