19. Department of Transportation · Major
Reduce CAFE standards to the model year 2020 level of 35 mpg fleet-wide
Printed page 628 19. Department of Transportation
“Reduce proposed fuel economy levels. The Administration should consider returning to the minimum average fuel economy levels specified by Congress for model year 2020 vehicles: levels aimed at achieving a fleet-wide average of 35 miles per gallon.”
What has happened
- Done
NHTSA published the SAFE Vehicles Rule III as a final rule (91 FR 61988, RIN 2127-AM76), which "finalizes amendments to fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles for model years 2022-2026 and MYs 2027-2031" and describes itself as "substantially recalibrating" the CAFE program. The proposal it finalizes projected a fleet-wide average of about 34.5 mpg in MY 2031, the 35-mpg level the Quote names. The final rule keeps that level. NHTSA "estimates that the final standards would correspond to a combined industry fleetwide average of roughly 34.9 mpg in MY 2031". It takes effect 2026-11-30. The full text was read on 2026-10-01.
- Partially done
NHTSA proposed the SAFE Vehicles Rule III, rewriting standards for MY 2022–2031 to a projected fleet-wide average of roughly 34.5 mpg in MY 2031 — the 35-mpg level the Mandate names. Comment period extended to 2026-02-04; no final rule published as of 2026-08-26.
- Partially done
Section 40006 of Public Law 119-21 (the reconciliation act) set the CAFE civil penalty to $0.00 for all model years not yet assessed, leaving the Biden-era standards on the books but unenforceable — part of the ask achieved by a different instrument.
- Attempted
NHTSA's interpretive rule "Resetting the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program" (Docket NHTSA-2025-0055) declared that the agency may not count electric vehicles when setting standards, laying the legal groundwork for lower standards without changing any number.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Resolved (review, 2026-10-01). The triage wrote the 2026-09-30 done event from the abstract, so the review read the final rule’s full text (FR 2026-19964, federalregister.gov raw text, 2026-10-01). It holds. NHTSA “estimates that the final standards would correspond to a combined industry fleetwide average of roughly 34.9 mpg in MY 2031 for passenger cars and light trucks”, which is the ~35 mpg the Quote names and a little above the proposal’s 34.5. The rule takes effect 2026-11-30. A petition for review would be on CourtListener, which was not refreshed this round (quota). Check for one next round.
- Before 2026-09-30: done waited on the SAFE III final rule. The Federal Register API returned no RULE titled “SAFE Vehicles Rule III” through 2026-08-26 (the only hit was EPA’s 2026-02-18 rescission of the greenhouse-gas endangerment finding, a different instrument under the Clean Air Act).
- Petitions for review of the June 2025 interpretive rule, First Circuit (leads; dockets unreadable): State of California v. NHTSA, 25-1595, filed 2025-06-20 — https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70611867/state-of-california-v-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration/ ; Center for Biological Diversity v. NHTSA, 25-1642 — https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70880046/center-for-biological-diversity-v-national-highway-traffic-safety/ ; Zero Emission Transportation Association v. NHTSA, 25-1846 — https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71378811/zero-emission-transportation-association-v-national-highway-traffic-safety/ . No decision found; none blocks the rule.
- The DOJ press release of 2026-03-12 (see #1721) names the “Freedom Means Affordable Cars” initiative as the umbrella for the CAFE reset.
- Action
- restrict
- Object
- Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
- ID
- 1718