The Transportation Department published an interpretive rule that says the Biden administration improperly considered electric vehicles as a way to make vehicle fleets more efficient
While this determination does not formally end the Biden-era rule, the Trump administration indicated that while the rulemaking process plays out, it may not enforce the Biden-era standards.
“Pending the rulemaking process for the establishment of replacement standards, [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] will exercise its enforcement authority with regard to all existing … standards in accordance with the interpretation set forth in this rule,” it stated.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a statement accused the previous administration of trying to push an electric vehicle “mandate.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making vehicles more affordable and easier to manufacture in the United States,” Duffy said. “The previous administration illegally used [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standards as an electric vehicle mandate.”
The Biden administration issued a rule requiring cars to be about 2 percent more fuel efficient each year while heavy duty pickup trucks and vans would have to be 10 percent more efficient each year from 2030 to 2032 and 8 percent more efficient in the years after.
Read more at TheHill.com.
