Administration proposes higher mileage standards

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration proposed higher fuel economy standards for SUVs and minivans Tuesday with a new regulatory system that sets different mileage goals for six sizes of vehicles, replacing the current single standard for all light trucks.

Administration officials say the regulations would result in more fuel savings than any previous increase in efficiency standards for larger vehicles. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said the rules would save 10 billion gallons of gasoline and “result in less pain at the pump for motorists, without sacrificing safety.”

But environmentalists say the complex proposal adds up to little real change and continues to reward Detroit for building bigger vehicles. It also addresses the complaint of U.S. automakers that it’s easier for foreign-owned manufacturers to meet existing standards because they sell fewer large trucks.

“The proposal is almost embarrassing in terms of its effect on fuel consumption,” said Eric Haxthausen, an economist with Environmental Defense of Washington. He called the 10 billion gallons of fuel savings a “weak yardstick” because it would be spread over as long as 15 years. Last year, for instance, U.S. drivers consumed nearly 140 billion gallons of gas, according to federal Energy Information Administration. “We can and should do better,” Haxthausen said.

The plan would do away with an industrywide corporate average fuel efficiency – or CAFE – standard for vehicles classified as light trucks, which includes SUVs, pickup trucks, minivans and other models that now make up more than half of all new vehicles sold in the United States. Instead, fuel economy would be calculated for six different segments of these vehicles.

Each automaker would also be given an average fuel economy goal for its particular mix of vehicle sales.

Under current standards, automakers must maintain an average of 27.5 miles per gallon for passenger cars and 21 mpg for light trucks. The light-truck standard is already scheduled to rise to 22.2 mpg for the 2007 model year.

The new regulations would start affecting light trucks in the 2008 model year, and all such vehicles would have to comply by 2011 models. For the smallest category of trucks, the final fuel efficiency target would be 28.4 miles per gallon; for the largest SUVs and pickups, it would be 21.3 mpg.

The proposal is submitted for public comment until Nov. 22, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hopes to issue a final rule by next April.

The industry has argued that achieving better fuel efficiency often means producing smaller, lighter cars that are less safe to drive. Tuesday’s proposed rule change is aimed at discouraging automakers from building smaller vehicles unless the market demands it. The approach “lessens the incentive to design smaller vehicles to achieve a ‘light truck’ classification,” the rule says, because smaller trucks will be regulated almost as stiffly as passenger cars.