[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49217-49220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-17649]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0827; NHTSA-2016-0068; FRL-9949-54-OAR]
RIN 2060-AS97; RIN 2127-AL76


Notice of Availability of Midterm Evaluation Draft Technical 
Assessment Report for Model Year 2022-2025 Light Duty Vehicle GHG 
Emissions and CAFE Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of 
Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 
(NHTSA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have established a 
coordinated National Program for Federal standards for greenhouse gas 
(GHG) emissions and corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) for light-
duty vehicles. As part of that National Program, EPA and NHTSA, along 
with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), have jointly prepared 
and are requesting comment on a Draft Technical Assessment Report. In 
the Draft Technical Assessment Report, the agencies examine a wide 
range of issues relevant to GHG emissions and CAFE standards for model 
years (MY) 2022-2025, and share with the public their initial technical 
analyses of those issues. EPA is required to prepare the Draft 
Technical Assessment Report by its rules which establish the Midterm 
Evaluation. The draft TAR is the first formal step in the Midterm 
Evaluation process. NHTSA is participating in the Midterm Evaluation 
process as part of its de novo rulemaking to establish final CAFE 
standards for MY 2022-2025. CARB, in its support of the National 
Program in lieu of a separate California program, committed to 
participating in the Midterm Evaluation process. The agencies will 
fully consider public comments received on the Draft Technical 
Assessment Report as they proceed with the Midterm Evaluation.

DATES: Comments: In order for comments to be most helpful to this 
ongoing Midterm Evaluation process, the agencies encourage parties 
wishing to comment on the Draft Technical Assessment Report to submit 
their comments by September 26, 2016. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section for more information about the Midterm

[[Page 49218]]

Evaluation process and the Draft Technical Assessment Report.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2015-0827 and/or Docket No. NHTSA-2016-0068, to the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or withdrawn. The EPA and NHTSA may publish any comment 
received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any 
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA 
and NHTSA will not consider comments or comment contents located 
outside of the submission to the official dockets (i.e., located 
elsewhere on the web, cloud, or in another file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    NHTSA also allows comments to be submitted by the following 
methods:
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery: West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 4 
p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Since CARB is a joint author on the Draft Technical Assessment Report, 
the agencies are requesting that commenters, in addition to submitting 
comments to the EPA and/or NHTSA docket, also submit their comments 
directly to CARB at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm2/bcsubform.php?listname=drafttar2016-ws.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
EPA: Christopher Lieske, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, 
Assessment and Standards Division, Environmental Protection Agency, 
2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; telephone number: 734-214-
4584; fax number: 734-214-4816; email address: 
[email protected]
NHTSA: Rebecca Yoon, Office of Chief Counsel, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 
20590. Telephone: (202) 366-2992, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Public Participation

    NHTSA and EPA request comment on all aspects of the Draft Technical 
Assessment Report discussed below. This section describes how you can 
participate in this process.

How do I prepare and submit comments?

    For the convenience of all parties, comments submitted to the EPA 
docket will be considered comments submitted to the NHTSA docket, and 
vice versa. Therefore, commenters only need to submit comments to 
either one of the two agency dockets, although they may choose to 
submit comments to both. Comments that are submitted for consideration 
by one agency should be identified as such, and comments that are 
submitted for consideration by both agencies should be identified as 
such. Absent such identification, each agency will exercise its best 
judgment to determine whether a comment is directed at its individual 
work.
    Further instructions for submitting comments to either the EPA or 
NHTSA docket are described below.
    EPA: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0827. 
EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute.\1\ Do not submit information that you consider 
to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. 
The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email 
comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your 
email address will be automatically captured and included as part of 
the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on 
the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that 
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
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    \1\ This statement constitutes notice to commenters pursuant to 
40 CFR 2.209(c) that EPA will share confidential information 
received with NHTSA unless commenters specify that they wish to 
submit their CBI only to EPA and not to both agencies.
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    NHTSA: Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that 
your comments are correctly filed in the Docket, please include the 
Docket number NHTSA-2016-0068 in your comments. Your comments must not 
be more than 15 pages long. NHTSA established this limit to encourage 
you to write your primary comments in a concise fashion. However, you 
may attach necessary additional documents to your comments. There is no 
limit on the length of the attachments. If you are submitting comments 
electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, we ask that the documents 
submitted be scanned using the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) 
process, thus allowing the agencies to search and copy certain portions 
of your submissions. Please note that pursuant to the Data Quality Act, 
in order for the substantive data to be relied upon and used by the 
agencies, it must meet the information quality standards set forth in 
the OMB and Department of Transportation (DOT) Data Quality Act 
guidelines. Accordingly, we encourage you to consult the guidelines in 
preparing your comments. OMB's guidelines may be accessed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/reproducible.html. DOT's guidelines may 
be accessed at http://www.dot.gov/dataquality.htm.

Tips for Preparing Your Comments

    When submitting comments, remember to:
     Identify the action by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
     Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives, 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at

[[Page 49219]]

your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified in the DATES section above.

How can I be sure that my comments were received?

    NHTSA: If you submit your comments by mail and 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.

How do I submit confidential business information?

    Any confidential business information (CBI) submitted to one of the 
agencies will also be available to the other agency. However, as with 
all public comments, any CBI information only needs to be submitted to 
either one of the agencies' dockets and it will be available to the 
other. Following are specific instructions for submitting CBI to either 
agency.
    EPA: Do not submit CBI to EPA through http://www.regulations.gov or 
email. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim 
to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to 
EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD ROM the specific information that 
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment 
that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that 
does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for 
inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be 
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 
2.
    NHTSA: 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 
below under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. When you send a comment 
containing confidential business information, you should include a 
cover letter setting forth the information specified in our 
confidential business information regulation.\2\
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    \2\ See 49 CFR part 512.
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    In addition, you should submit a copy from which you have deleted 
the claimed confidential business information to the Docket by one of 
the methods set forth above.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the materials placed in the docket for this document 
(e.g., the comments submitted in response to this document by other 
interested persons) at any time by going to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for accessing the dockets. You may also 
read the materials at the EPA Docket Center (details provided at 
https://www.epa.gov/dockets/epa-docket-center-reading-room) or NHTSA 
Docket Management Facility by going to the street addresses given above 
under ADDRESSES.

B. Overview of the Midterm Evaluation and the Draft Technical 
Assessment Report

    The EPA and NHTSA have conducted two joint rulemakings to establish 
a coordinated National Program for stringent Federal CAFE and GHG 
emissions standards for light-duty vehicles. The agencies finalized the 
first set of National Program standards covering MYs 2012-2016 in May 
2010 \3\ and the second set of standards, covering MYs 2017-2025 for 
EPA and final standards for 2017-2021 and augural standards for 2022 to 
2025 for NHTSA, in October 2012.\4\ The National Program establishes 
standards that increase in stringency year-over-year from MY 2012 
through the final years of the program. Through the coordination of the 
National Program with the California standards, automakers can build 
one single fleet of vehicles across the U.S. that satisfies all 
applicable requirements, and consumers can continue to have a full 
range of vehicle choices that meet their needs. In the 2012 final rule, 
the agencies projected that the National Program would reach a level by 
2025 that nearly doubles fuel economy and cuts GHG emissions in half as 
compared to MY 2008, and would reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) 
pollution by 6 billion metric tons and oil consumption by 12 billion 
barrels over the lifetime of MY 2012-2025 vehicles. In addition, the 
standards are projected to provide significant savings for consumers 
due to reduced fuel use, and thus reduced expenditures on fuel.
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    \3\ 75 FR 25324, May 7, 2010.
    \4\ 77 FR 62624, October 15, 2012.
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    The rulemaking establishing the National Program for MY 2017-2025 
light-duty vehicles included a regulatory requirement for EPA to 
conduct a Midterm Evaluation (MTE) of the GHG standards established for 
MYs 2022-2025.\5\ The 2012 final rule preamble also states that ``[t]he 
mid-term evaluation reflects the rules' long time frame, and, for 
NHTSA, the agency's statutory obligation to conduct a de novo 
rulemaking in order to establish final standards for MYs 2022-2025.'' 
NHTSA will consider information gathered as part of the MTE record, 
including information submitted through public comments, in the 
comprehensive de novo rulemaking it must undertake to set CAFE 
standards for MYs 2022-2025. Through the MTE, EPA will determine no 
later than April 1, 2018 whether the GHG standards for MYs 2022-2025, 
established in 2012, are still appropriate, within the meaning of 
section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act, in light of the record then before 
the Administrator, given the latest available data and information. See 
40 CFR 86.1818-12(h). EPA's decision could go one of three ways: The 
standards remain appropriate, the standards should be less stringent, 
or the standards should be more stringent. In addition, ``[i]n order to 
align the agencies' proceedings for MYs 2022-2025 and to maintain a 
joint national program, EPA and NHTSA will finalize their actions 
related to MYs 2022-2025 standard concurrently. If the EPA 
determination is that the standards may change, the agencies will issue 
a joint NPRM and joint final rules.'' See 77 FR 62628 (October 15, 
2012).
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    \5\ See 40 CFR 86.1818-12(h).
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    The MTE is a collaborative, data-driven, and transparent process 
that will be a holistic assessment of all of factors considered in 
standards setting, and the expected impact of those factors on 
manufacturers' ability to comply, without placing decisive weight on 
any particular factor or projection. See 77 FR 62784 (October 15, 
2012). The MTE analysis is to be as robust and comprehensive as that in 
the original 2012 final rule. Id. EPA and NHTSA also are closely 
coordinating with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 
conducting the MTE to better ensure the continuation of the National 
Program. Id. The agencies fully expect to conduct the MTE in close 
coordination with CARB.
    The Draft TAR is the first formal step in the MTE process and is 
being issued jointly by EPA, NHTSA, and CARB for

[[Page 49220]]

public comment. EPA is required to prepare and seek public comment on 
the Draft TAR.\6\ The Draft TAR is a technical report, not a decision 
document. The Draft TAR is an opportunity for all three agencies to 
share with the public the initial technical analyses of a wide range of 
issues relevant to the MY 2022-2025 standards. The Draft TAR is a first 
step in the process that will ultimately inform, for EPA, whether the 
MY 2022-2025 GHG standards adopted by EPA in 2012 should remain in 
place or should change, and, for NHTSA, what MY 2022-2025 CAFE 
standards will be maximum feasible under the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended by the Energy Independence and 
Security Act (EISA) of 2007 (49 U.S.C. 32902). The preamble to the 2012 
final rule states that ``[t]he TAR will examine the same issues and 
underlying analyses and projections considered in the original 
rulemaking including technical and other analyses related to each 
agency's authority to set standards as well as any relevant new issues 
that may present themselves.'' 77 FR 62784 (October 15, 2012).
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    \6\ See 40 CFR 86.1818-12(h)(2)(i).
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    The agencies have conducted extensive research and analyses to 
support the MTE, as discussed throughout the Draft TAR. As part of 
gathering robust data and information to inform the MTE, the agencies 
also have conducted extensive outreach with a wide range of 
stakeholders--including auto manufacturers, automotive suppliers, non-
governmental organizations, consumer groups, labor unions, state and 
local governments, the academic and research communities, and others. 
Among other things, the Draft TAR presents analyses reflecting this 
research and information obtained during the agencies' outreach, 
presents updated assessments of available technologies' effectiveness 
and costs since the 2012 final rule, and offers an opportunity for 
public comment on the agencies' analyses thus far. The agencies will 
fully consider public comments on the Draft TAR as they continue the 
MTE process.
    The Draft TAR and related materials are available in the public 
dockets for this action (see ADDRESSES above) and at https://www3.epa.gov/otaq/climate/mte.htm and http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/CAFE+-+Fuel+Economy/ld-cafe-midterm-evaluation-2022-25.

    Dated: July 15, 2016.
Anthony R. Foxx,
Secretary, Department of Transportation.
    Dated: July 15, 2016.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency.
[FR Doc. 2016-17649 Filed 7-26-16; 8:45 am]
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