U.S. Legislative Updates

The NAFA Fleet Management Association has asked the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to issue a final rule allowing state and utility fleets to acquire hybrid vehicles to meet mandatory requirements of the Energy Policy Act.  In a letter to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, NAFA said that current DOE policy that covered fleets may not use hybrid vehicles to meet their acquisition mandates conflicts with the intent of Congress.  NAFA pointed out that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 directs the Secretary of Energy to allocate compliance credits not later than January 31, 2009 for the acquisition of a hybrid electric vehicle; a plug-in electric drive vehicle; a fuel cell electric vehicle; a neighborhood electric vehicle; or a medium- or heavy-duty electric vehicle.   To date, no proposed or final regulation has been published.

NAFA requested that DOE act expeditiously on this rulemaking and avoid any further delays.  "It will be very helpful to fleet managers if you were able to commit that the rulemaking will be completed in time for covered fleets to utilize hybrid credits for the 2012 model year," NAFA said in the letter.  "If for whatever reason, such a commitment is not possible, NAFA asks that the DOE consider suspending enforcement for Model Year 2012 and succeeding model years, until the required rulemaking is promulgated."


A report produced by the National Research Council at the request of Congress claims the U.S. is likely to be unable to meet some specific biofuel mandates under the federal renewable fuel standard (RFS2), unless polices are changed or new innovative technologies are developed. The report, titled "Renewable Fuel Standard: Potential Economic and Environmental Effects of U.S. Biofuel Policy," further states that the program may be ineffective at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and that achieving the standards established by RFS2 would likely increase federal budget outlays and have mixed economic and environmental effects.  The standard, which President George W. Bush signed into law as part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, and amended in 2007, requires market consumption of fifteen billion gallons of conventional Biofuels (corn ethanol); along with sixteen billion barrels of cellulosic ethanol produced from non-food plants, and four billion barrels of advanced non-food biofuels which would have a life-cycle effect of lowering greenhouse gases.