[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 214 (Friday, November 5, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68312-68314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-27930]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 523, 534, and 535

[Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0079]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for New Medium- and Heavy-Duty Fuel Efficiency Improvement 
Program

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS).

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SUMMARY: NHTSA has prepared a DEIS to disclose and analyze the 
potential environmental impacts of the agency's newly proposed fuel 
consumption standards for commercial medium- and heavy-duty on-highway 
vehicles and work trucks (``HD vehicles''), which NHTSA recently 
proposed pursuant to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 
NHTSA invites Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and 
the public to submit written comments on the DEIS using the 
instructions set forth in this notice. To facilitate review of the 
DEIS, NHTSA has posted the DEIS on its Web site (http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy) and placed it in the agency's docket, identified by the 
docket number at the beginning of this notice. NHTSA will consider all 
public comments received on the DEIS in preparing final NEPA documents 
to support final fuel consumption standards, which NHTSA plans to issue 
next year.

DATES: To ensure that NHTSA has the opportunity to consider comments on 
the DEIS, NHTSA must receive written comments by January 3, 2011. NHTSA 
will try to consider comments received after that date to the extent 
the NEPA and rulemaking schedules allow, but NHTSA cannot ensure that 
it will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the DEIS should 
be addressed to Ms. Angel Jackson, Telephone: 1-202-366-0154, Fuel 
Economy Division, Office of International Vehicle, Fuel Economy and 
Consumer Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. E-mail: 
[email protected]. Information about the HD vehicle rulemaking and the 
NEPA process is also available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy.

[[Page 68313]]


ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to the docket number identified in 
the heading of this document by any of the following methods:
     Online: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments on the electronic docket Web site 
by clicking on ``Help'' or ``FAQs.''
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern 
time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket number. Note that all comments received will be posted without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided. Please see the Privacy Act discussion below. We 
will consider all comments received before the close of business on the 
comment closing date indicated above. To the extent possible, we will 
also consider comments filed after the closing date.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays. Telephone: (202) 366-9826.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on 
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477-78) or you may visit http://www.dot.gov/privacy.html.
    Confidential Business Information: If you wish to submit any 
information under a claim of confidentiality, you should submit three 
copies of your complete submission, including the information you claim 
to be confidential business information, to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, 
at the address given under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In 
addition, you should submit two copies, from which you have deleted the 
claimed confidential business information, to the Docket Management 
Facility at the address given above. When you send a comment containing 
information claimed to be confidential business information, you should 
include a cover letter setting forth the information specified in our 
confidential business information regulation (49 CFR Part 512).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NHTSA has prepared a DEIS to disclose and 
analyze the potential environmental impacts of the agency's newly 
proposed Fuel Efficiency Improvement Program for HD vehicles.\1\ 
Concurrent with the DEIS, NHTSA and the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) announced a joint proposed rulemaking that would reduce 
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from and increase the fuel efficiency of 
HD vehicles. The joint proposed rules will be published in the near 
future in the Federal Register. NHTSA is proposing fuel consumption 
standards under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 
(EISA),\2\ and EPA is proposing GHG emissions standards under the Clean 
Air Act. These proposed standards would be tailored to each of three 
regulatory categories of HD vehicles: Combination Tractors; Pick-up 
Trucks and Vans; and Vocational Vehicles, as well as gasoline and 
diesel HD vehicle engines. EPA's proposed GHG emissions standards would 
begin with model year (MY) 2014. NHTSA's proposed fuel consumption 
standards would be optional in MYs 2014 and 2015, becoming mandatory 
beginning in MY 2016 for most regulatory categories. The joint proposed 
rulemaking is consistent with President Obama's May 21, 2010 directive 
to improve the fuel efficiency of and reduce GHG pollution from HD 
vehicles through coordinated Federal standards.\3\ EPA and the Federal 
Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) served as cooperating 
agencies in the preparation of the DEIS. EPA has special expertise in 
the areas of climate change and air quality and FMCSA has special 
expertise in HD vehicles.
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    \1\ See National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. Sec. 
4321-4347, and implementing regulations issued by the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ), 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508, and NHTSA, 49 
CFR Part 520.
    \2\ Public Law No. 110-140, 121 Stat. 1492 (Dec. 19, 2007) 
(codified at 49 U.S.C. 32901).
    \3\ See The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 
Presidential Memorandum Regarding Fuel Efficiency Standards (May 21, 
2010), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-memorandum-regarding-fuel-efficiency-standards (last 
accessed Nov. 1, 2010); see also The White House, Office of the 
Press Secretary, President Obama Directs Administration to Create 
First-Ever National Efficiency and Emissions Standards for Medium- 
and Heavy-Duty Trucks (May 21, 2010), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-directs-administration-create-first-ever-national-efficiency-and-em (last 
accessed Nov. 1, 2010).
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    To inform decisionmakers and the public, the DEIS analyzes the 
potential environmental impacts of the proposed standards and 
alternative standards for MYs 2014-2018, including a ``No Action'' 
Alternative, pursuant to NEPA regulations.\4\ The DEIS analyzes direct, 
indirect, and cumulative impacts in proportion to their significance. 
It provides a detailed analysis of potential impacts on energy 
resources, air quality, and climate. The DEIS uses climate modeling and 
estimated fuel savings to provide quantitative estimates of potential 
impacts on air quality, CO2 emissions, global mean surface 
temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise. The DEIS provides a 
qualitative analysis of resources that may be impacted by changes in 
climate, such as freshwater resources, terrestrial ecosystems, coastal 
ecosystems, land use, human health, and environmental justice. It 
examines impacts on the U.S. and on a global scale. In addition, the 
DEIS analyzes potential environmental impacts unrelated to climate 
change.
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    \4\ The ``No Action'' Alternative assumes that NHTSA would not 
issue a rule regarding a HD Fuel Efficiency Improvement Program, and 
is considered to comply with NEPA and to provide an analytical 
baseline against which to compare environmental impacts of the other 
regulatory alternatives. See 40 CFR 1502.2(e), 1502.14(d). NEPA 
requires agencies to consider a ``no action'' alternative in their 
NEPA analyses and to compare the effects of not taking action with 
the effects of the reasonable action alternatives to demonstrate the 
different environmental effects of the action alternatives.
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How can I get a copy of the DEIS?

    The DEIS is available on NHTSA's Web site at http://www.nhtsa.gov/fuel-economy and in the agency's docket identified by the docket number 
at the beginning of this notice. To request a CD containing the DEIS 
and its Appendices, please contact Ms. Angel Jackson using the contact 
information in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section above.

How do I comment on the DEIS?

    NHTSA invites the submission of written comments on the DEIS which 
the agency will consider in preparing the final NEPA documents to 
support the new Fuel Efficiency Improvement Program. Your comments must 
be written and in English. To ensure that your comments are correctly 
filed in the Docket, please include the docket number at the beginning 
of this notice in your comments.
    Your primary comments cannot exceed 15 pages.\5\ However, you may

[[Page 68314]]

attach additional documents to your primary comments. There is no limit 
to the length of the attachments.
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    \5\ 49 CFR 553.21.
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    Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register at 65 FR 19477, 
April 11, 2000, or you may visit http://www.regulations.gov.
    If you wish Docket Management to notify you upon its receipt of 
your comments, enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the 
envelope containing your comments. Upon receiving your comments, Docket 
Management will return the postcard by mail.
    As NHTSA and EPA recently announced in the Federal Register,\6\ the 
agencies are holding two public hearings on the proposed fuel 
consumption standards. At these hearings, NHTSA will also accept 
comments to the DEIS.
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    \6\ See 75 FR 67059 (Nov. 1, 2010).
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How do I submit confidential business information?

    If you wish to submit any information under a claim of 
confidentiality, send three copies of your complete submission, 
including the information you claim to be confidential business 
information, to the Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590. 
Include a cover letter supplying the information specified in our 
confidential business information regulation (49 CFR Part 512).
    In addition, send two copies from which you have deleted the 
claimed confidential business information to Docket Management, 1200 
New Jersey Avenue, SE., West Building, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590, or submit them electronically, in the manner described at the 
beginning of this notice.

Will the agency consider late comments?

    NHTSA will consider all comments that Docket Management receives 
before the close of business on the comment closing date indicated 
above under DATES. To the extent the NEPA and rulemaking schedules 
allow, NHTSA will try to consider comments that Docket Management 
receives after that date, but we cannot ensure that we will be able to 
do so.\7\
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    \7\ See 49 CFR 553.23.
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    Please note that even after the comment closing date, we will 
continue to file relevant information in the docket as it becomes 
available. Further, some commenters may submit late comments. 
Accordingly, we recommend that you periodically check the docket for 
new material.

    Issued on: November 1, 2010.
Joseph S. Carra
Acting Associate Administrator for Rulemaking.
[FR Doc. 2010-27930 Filed 11-4-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P