U.S. Legislative Issues

 
In 2012, the White House mandated a more than doubling of vehicle fuel efficiency by 2025 to 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg). To solidify buy-in from automakers, the Obama administration agreed to a midterm evaluation (MTE) to re-evaluate the economic and technological feasibility of meeting or exceeding the fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light trucks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) were tasked with conducting the MTE.

On July 18, 2016, EPA, NHTSA, and CARB jointly issued their Draft Technical Assessment Report (TAR) as part of the MTE process for public comment. EPA said public input on the Draft TAR, along with new data and information, would be used to inform EPA’s decision to adjust miles-per-gallon and greenhouse gas (GHG) targets for light-duty vehicle model years (MY) 2022-2025.

In a proposed determination statement issued November 30, the EPA proposed leaving the current GHG emissions standards for light-duty vehicle MY 2022-2025 in place, based on "extensive technical analysis that shows automakers are well positioned to meet the goals." Under a previous EPA timeline, the proposed determination was slated for the middle of 2017.

On January 12, 2017, the EPA announced its decision to maintain the current GHG emissions standards for MY 2022-2025 cars and light trucks. EPA projects the standards will result in average fleet-wide consumer fuel economy sticker values of 36 mpg by MY 2025, 10 mpg higher than the current fleet average. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said that retaining the current standards would provide "regulatory certainty for the global auto industry, one that is already required to meet similar standards in Canadian and European markets."


 
On January 24, 2017, Senate Democrats unveiled a wide-sweeping infrastructure plan to be rolled out over the next ten years. The proposal includes $210 billion for roads and bridges, $110 billion for water and sewers, and $180 billion for rail and bus projects. It also calls for $70 billion for ports, airports, and waterways and $100 billion for energy infrastructure. $10 billion would be reserved for an "infrastructure bank". It also contains a rewrite of tax incentives for the renewable energy industry and calls for an update to the electricity grid. Notably absent from the rollout were any specifics on how the bill would be funded. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) did say, however, that Democrats "would not support tax cuts for developers to pay for the program, nor would they back cuts to middle-class programs such as education and health care." The Democratic leader said he discussed his proposal with President Trump last week and that he "seemed open to a bill that’s this large."

In response to the proposal, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that the size of Trump’s plan will be determined by how much "fiscal space" there is in a budget proposal congressional Republicans plan to issue this spring. Speaker Ryan and other congressional Republicans have signaled that they will not support any infrastructure proposal that would increase the national deficit.


 
On January 19, 2017, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) guidance aimed at improving safety and mobility by accelerating the deployment of V2I communication systems. The guidance complements the agency’s efforts to reduce crashes by advancing (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) V2V communication technology announced in a proposed rule last month.

"V2I communication is a critical component of a connected vehicle environment—a system of hardware, software, firmware and wireless communication that enables the dynamic transfer of data between vehicles as well as between vehicles and elements of the roadway infrastructure," said the FHWA in a press release. "In addition to improving safety, V2V technology offers tremendous mobility and environmental benefits," said FHWA Administrator Gregory Nadeau. "We took a big leap forward today by starting a national conversation about these topics, the future of V2I technologies and some of the bigger challenges facing us, such as privacy, security, and interoperability."