[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 26, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34740-34745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15701]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2017-0069]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
Model Year 2022-2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement; 
request for scoping comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), NHTSA intends to prepare an environmental impact statement 
(EIS) to analyze the potential environmental impacts of new Corporate 
Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for model year (MY) 2022-2025 
passenger automobiles (referred to herein as ``passenger cars'') and 
non-passenger automobiles (referred to herein as ``light trucks'') that 
NHTSA will be proposing pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation 
Act of 1975 (EPCA), as amended by the Energy Independence and Security 
Act of 2007 (EISA). This notice initiates the process for determining 
the scope of considerations to be addressed in the EIS and for 
identifying any significant environmental matters related to the 
proposed action. NHTSA invites public comments from Federal, State, and 
local agencies, Indian tribes, stakeholders, and the public in this 
scoping process to help identify and focus any matters of environmental 
significance and reasonable alternatives to be examined in the EIS.

DATES: The scoping process will culminate in the preparation and 
issuance of a Draft EIS, which will be made available for public 
comment concurrently with the issuance of a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (NPRM). To ensure that NHTSA has an opportunity to fully 
consider scoping comments, scoping comments should be received on or 
before August 25, 2017. NHTSA will consider comments received after 
that date to the extent the rulemaking schedule allows.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments to the docket number identified in 
the heading of this document by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     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.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, you must include the 
docket number identified in the heading of this notice. Note that all 
comments received, including any personal information provided, will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. Please see the 
``Privacy Act'' heading below.
    You may call the Docket Management Facility at 202-366-9324.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street 
address listed above. We will continue to file relevant information in 
the Docket as it becomes available.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to better inform its rulemaking process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to http://www.regulations.gov, as described in 
the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed 
at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. 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.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues, contact Ken 
Katz, Fuel Economy Division, Office of International Policy, Fuel 
Economy, and Consumer Programs, telephone: 202-366-4936, email: 
[email protected]; for legal issues, contact Russell Krupen, Legislation 
& General Law Division, Office of the Chief Counsel, telephone: 202-
366-1834, email: [email protected], at the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, 
DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In a forthcoming NPRM, NHTSA intends to 
propose CAFE standards for MY 2022-2025 passenger cars and light trucks 
pursuant to EPCA (Pub. L. 94-163, 89 Stat. 871 (Dec. 22, 1975)), as 
amended by EISA (Pub. L. 110-140, 121 Stat. 1492 (Dec. 19, 2007)).\1\ 
In connection with this action, NHTSA will prepare an EIS to analyze 
the potential environmental impacts of the proposed CAFE standards and 
reasonable alternative standards pursuant to NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) 
and implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) issued by the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), DOT Order No. 5610.1C 
(Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts (1979) (revised 
1985), available at https://www.transportation.gov/office-policy/transportation-policy/procedures-considering-environmental-impacts-dot-order-56101c), and NHTSA regulations (49 CFR part 520). NEPA instructs 
Federal agencies to consider the potential environmental impacts of 
their proposed actions and those of possible alternative actions. 42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C). To inform decisionmakers and the public, the EIS 
will analyze the potential environmental impacts of NHTSA's preferred 
alternative, which will correspond to the proposed rule, and a spectrum 
of reasonable alternatives, including a ``no action'' alternative. 40 
CFR 1502.1, 1502.14. The EIS will consider direct, indirect, and 
cumulative impacts of the proposed action and alternatives and will 
discuss impacts in proportion to their significance. Id. Sec. Sec.  
1502.2(b), 1508.25(b)-(c).
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    \1\ NHTSA's fuel economy authorities are codified at 49 U.S.C. 
32901 et seq.
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    Background. EPCA requires that the Secretary of Transportation \2\ 
establish and implement a regulatory program for motor vehicle fuel 
economy as part of a comprehensive approach to Federal energy policy. 
As codified in Chapter 329 of Title 49 of the U.S. Code, and as

[[Page 34741]]

amended by EISA, EPCA set forth specific requirements concerning the 
establishment of CAFE standards for passenger cars and light trucks.
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    \2\ The Secretary has delegated responsibility for implementing 
fuel economy requirements under EPCA and EISA to NHTSA. 49 CFR 
1.95(a) and (j).
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    The Secretary must prescribe average fuel economy standards by 
regulation at least 18 months before the beginning of each model year 
and to set them at ``the maximum feasible average fuel economy level 
that . . . the manufacturers can achieve in that model year.'' 49 
U.S.C. 32902(a). The standards apply to each manufacturer's fleet 
average, not to the manufacturer's individual vehicles. The Secretary, 
after consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator 
of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), must establish average 
fuel economy standards separately for passenger cars and for light 
trucks manufactured in each model year. Id. Sec.  32902(b)(1)-(2). In 
doing so, for the model years to be addressed in the NPRM, the 
Secretary of Transportation must set each passenger car and light truck 
standard at the ``maximum feasible'' average fuel economy standard for 
each model year. Id. Sec.  32902(b)(2)(B), (f). When setting ``maximum 
feasible'' average fuel economy standards, the Secretary must 
``consider technological feasibility, economic practicability, the 
effect of other motor vehicle standards of the Government on fuel 
economy, and the need of the United States to conserve energy.'' Id. 
Sec.  32902(f). NHTSA construes the aforementioned statutory factors as 
including environmental and safety considerations.\3\
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    \3\ For environmental considerations, see Center for Auto Safety 
v. NHTSA, 793 F.2d 1322, 1325 n. 12 (D.C. Cir. 1986); Public Citizen 
v. NHTSA, 848 F.2d 256, 262-3 n. 27 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (noting that 
``NHTSA itself has interpreted the factors it must consider in 
setting CAFE standards as including environmental effects''); Center 
for Biological Diversity v. NHTSA, 538 F.3d 1172, 1196 (9th Cir. 
2008); 40 CFR 1500.6. For safety considerations, see, e.g., 
Competitive Enterprise Inst. v. NHTSA, 956 F.2d 321, 322 (D.C. Cir. 
1992) (citing Competitive Enterprise Inst. v. NHTSA, 901 F.2d 107, 
120 n.11 (D.C. Cir. 1990)).
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    The standards for passenger cars and light trucks must be ``based 
on 1 or more vehicle attributes related to fuel economy'' and expressed 
``in the form of a mathematical function,'' and they may be established 
for not more than five model years at a time. 49 U.S.C. 32902(b)(3)(A)-
(B). In addition, each manufacturer must meet the minimum standard for 
domestically manufactured passenger cars, which is 92 percent of the 
projected average fuel economy for the combined domestic and non-
domestic passenger car fleet for each model year, calculated at the 
time the final rule establishing the passenger car standards for those 
model years is promulgated. Id. Sec.  32902(b)(4).
    Regulatory History. NHTSA set the first fuel economy standards in 
1977, applying to passenger cars beginning in MY 1978 and light trucks 
beginning in MY 1979. The stringency of the standards increased through 
MY 1985, and then changed little until MY 2005 for light trucks, when 
NHTSA reformed the light truck fuel economy program by introducing 
attribute-based standards, and MY 2011 for passenger cars, when NHTSA 
introduced attribute-based standards for passenger cars using new 
authority provided by EISA. CAFE standards have increased progressively 
for light trucks since MY 2005 and for passenger cars since MY 2011.
    More recently, NHTSA has conducted its fuel economy rulemaking 
jointly with EPA's rulemaking to establish greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emission standards. In April 2010, NHTSA and EPA issued a joint final 
rule establishing fuel economy standards and GHG emissions standards 
\4\ for MY 2012-2016 passenger cars and light trucks. Light-Duty 
Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel 
Economy Standards; Final Rule, 75 FR 25323 (May 7, 2010). The CAFE 
standards were estimated to require a combined average fleet-wide fuel 
economy of 34.1 miles per gallon (mpg) by MY 2016.\5\ Subsequently, on 
August 28, 2012, NHTSA and EPA issued a final rule setting CAFE and GHG 
emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 
2017 and beyond. 2017 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle 
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, 
77 FR 62623 (Oct. 15, 2012). Consistent with its statutory authority, 
NHTSA developed two phases of passenger car and light truck standards. 
The first phase, covering MYs 2017-2021, included final standards that 
were projected to require, on an average industry fleet wide basis, a 
range from 40.3-41.0 mpg in MY 2021. The second phase of the CAFE 
program, covering MYs 2022-2025, included standards that were not 
final, due to the statutory requirement that NHTSA set average fuel 
economy standards not more than five model years at a time. Rather, 
NHTSA wrote that those standards were ``augural,'' meaning that they 
represented its best estimate, based on the information available at 
that time, of what levels of stringency might be maximum feasible in 
those model years. NHTSA projected that those standards could require, 
on an average industry fleet wide basis, a range from 48.7-49.7 mpg in 
model year 2025.
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    \4\ EPA issued GHG emissions standards pursuant to the Clean Air 
Act. See 42 U.S.C. 7521(a).
    \5\ The EPA GHG standards were estimated to require a combined 
average fleet-wide level of 250 grams/mile CO2-equivalent 
for MY 2016, which is equivalent to 35.5 mpg if all of the 
technologies used to reduce GHG emissions were tailpipe 
CO2 reducing technologies. The 250 g/mi CO2 
equivalent level assumed the use of credits for air conditioning 
improvements worth 15 g/mi in MY 2016.
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    As part of the final rulemaking, EPA committed to conducting a Mid-
Term Evaluation of its GHG standards established for MYs 2022-2025. As 
NHTSA did not issue final CAFE standards for MYs 2022-2025 in its 2012 
final rule, it does not have any standards for those MYs to be 
evaluated. Instead, NHTSA is obligated to conduct a de novo rulemaking, 
with fresh inputs and a fresh consideration and balancing of all 
relevant factors, to establish final CAFE standards for those MYs. 
Meanwhile, EPA's regulations require it to determine whether the GHG 
standards for MYs 2022-2025 are appropriate under section 202(a) of the 
Clean Air Act, in light of the record then before the Administrator. 40 
CFR 86.1818-12(h).
    In July 2016, NHTSA, EPA, and the California Air Resources Board 
released for public comment a jointly prepared Draft Technical 
Assessment Report (TAR), which examined a range of matters relevant to 
CAFE and GHG emissions standards for MYs 2022-2025. Notice of 
Availability of Midterm Evaluation Draft Technical Assessment Report 
for Model Year 2022-2025 Light Duty Vehicle GHG Emissions and CAFE 
Standards, 81 FR 49217 (July 27, 2016). In November 2016, EPA issued a 
proposed determination for the Mid-Term Evaluation. Proposed 
Determination on the Appropriateness of the Model Year 2022-2025 Light-
Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards Under the Midterm 
Evaluation, 81 FR 87927 (Dec. 6, 2016). On January 12, 2017, the EPA 
Administrator signed the Final Determination of the Mid-Term Evaluation 
of light-duty GHG emissions standards for MYs 2022-2025. Subsequently, 
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Transportation Secretary Elaine L. 
Chao issued a joint notice announcing EPA's conclusion that it would 
reconsider its Final Determination in order to allow additional 
consultation and coordination with NHTSA in support of a national 
harmonized program. Notice of Intention to Reconsider the Final 
Determination of the Mid-Term Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions 
Standards for Model Year 2022-2025 Light Duty Vehicles, 82 FR 14671 
(Mar. 22, 2017). As a result, EPA

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intends to make a new Final Determination regarding the appropriateness 
of the MY 2022-2025 GHG standards no later than April 1, 2018. NHTSA is 
statutorily required to issue a final rule for MY 2022 CAFE standards 
no later than April 1, 2020. See 49 U.S.C. 32902(a).
    Analysis of Alternatives. Pursuant to NEPA, NHTSA will prepare an 
EIS to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of its proposed 
action. Although NHTSA evaluated the impacts of the augural standards 
in its EIS accompanying the MY 2017-2025 rulemaking (NHTSA, Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, Corporate Average Fuel Economy 
Standards, Passenger Cars and Light Trucks, Model Years 2017-2025, 
Docket No. NHTSA-2011-0056 (July 2012)), NHTSA will prepare a new Draft 
EIS and Final EIS as part of this de novo rulemaking in order to 
provide for fresh consideration of all available information.
    In an upcoming NPRM, NHTSA intends to propose separate attribute-
based standards for passenger cars and light trucks for each of MYs 
2022-2025. As in the previous CAFE rulemaking, NHTSA plans to propose 
vehicle footprint \6\ as the attribute. The standards are expected to 
be defined as footprint ``curves'' for passenger cars and light trucks 
in each model year, where vehicles of different footprints have 
specific fuel economy ``targets,'' with larger vehicles (and light 
trucks) generally having lower fuel economy targets than smaller 
vehicles (and passenger cars), reflecting their fuel economy 
capabilities.\7\ The shape and stringency of the curves would reflect, 
in part, NHTSA's analysis of the technological and economic 
capabilities of the industry within the rulemaking timeframe. A 
manufacturer's individual CAFE standards for cars and trucks, in turn, 
would be based on the target levels set for the footprints of its 
particular mix of cars and trucks manufactured in that model year. A 
manufacturer with a relatively high percentage of smaller vehicles 
would have a higher standard than a manufacturer with a relatively low 
percentage of smaller vehicles. Compliance would be determined by 
comparing a manufacturer's harmonically averaged fleet fuel economy 
level in a model year with a required fuel economy level calculated 
using the manufacturer's actual production levels and the targets for 
each vehicle it produces.\8\ As part of this rulemaking, NHTSA may 
evaluate the MY 2021 standards it finalized in 2012 to ensure they 
remain ``maximum feasible.'' As with any CAFE rulemaking, NHTSA will 
also consider other programmatic aspects other than stringency (e.g., 
flexibilities and vehicle classification) that may affect model years 
prior to and including those for which NHTSA would set fuel economy 
standards.
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    \6\ Footprint, which is a measure of vehicle size, is calculated 
by multiplying a vehicle's wheelbase by its track width.
    \7\ Vehicle models of the same fleet but made by different 
manufacturers would have the same fuel economy target if they had 
the same vehicle footprint (i.e., the quantity of the attribute upon 
which the standards would be based).
    \8\ While manufacturers may use a variety of flexibility 
mechanisms to comply with CAFE, including credits earned for over-
compliance, NHTSA is statutorily prohibited from considering 
manufacturers' ability to use statutorily-provided flexibility 
mechanisms in determining what level of CAFE standards would be 
maximum feasible. See 49 U.S.C. 32902(h).
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    The purpose of and need for an agency's action inform the 
reasonable range of alternatives to be considered in its NEPA analysis. 
40 CFR 1502.13. NHTSA sets CAFE standards as part of a comprehensive 
energy policy established by EPCA (and amended by EISA) with the 
purposes of conserving petroleum and of addressing energy independence 
and security by reducing U.S. reliance on foreign oil.
    In developing alternatives for analysis in the EIS, NHTSA must 
consider EPCA's requirements for setting CAFE standards. As discussed 
above, EPCA requires NHTSA to determine what level of CAFE stringency 
would be the ``maximum feasible'' for each model year, a determination 
made based on the consideration of four statutory factors: 
Technological feasibility, economic practicability, the effect of other 
standards of the Government on fuel economy, and the need of the United 
States to conserve energy. 49 U.S.C. 32902(f). In addition, EISA 
required fuel economy standards for MY 2011-2020 passenger cars and 
light trucks to ``achieve a combined fuel economy average for model 
year 2020 of at least 35 miles per gallon for the total fleet of 
passenger and non-passenger automobiles manufactured for sale in the 
United States for that model year.'' Id. Sec.  32902(b)(2)(A). NHTSA 
was required to ``prescribe annual fuel economy standard increases that 
increase the applicable average fuel economy standard ratably beginning 
with model year 2011 and ending with model year 2020.'' Id. Sec.  
32902(b)(2)(C). For MY 2021-2030 passenger cars and light trucks, EISA 
does not set a target fuel economy or require that standards ``increase 
. . . ratably'' over the ten-year period. See id. Sec.  32902(b)(2)(B).
    NHTSA is considering the following alternatives for analysis in the 
Draft EIS:
     A ``no action'' alternative (also referred to as the 
``baseline''), which assumes, for purposes of NEPA analysis, that NHTSA 
would issue a rule that would continue the current CAFE standards for 
MY 2021 indefinitely. 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 reasonable action alternatives 
in order to demonstrate the different environmental effects of the 
action alternatives. See 40 CFR 1502.14(d). Given that NHTSA must set 
new CAFE standards and may not strictly take no action on fuel 
economy,\9\ the agency has determined that, for this rulemaking, the 
closest analogue to a true ``no action'' alternative would be to 
continue the already existing and enforceable standards indefinitely 
without further change.\10\
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    \9\ See 49 U.S.C. 32902(a). CEQ has explained that ``[T]he 
regulations require the analysis of the no action alternative even 
if the agency is under a court order or legislative command to act. 
This analysis provides a benchmark, enabling decisionmakers to 
compare the magnitude of environmental effects of the action 
alternatives. . . . Inclusion of such an analysis in the EIS is 
necessary to inform the Congress, the public, and the President as 
intended by NEPA. [See 40 CFR 1500.1(a).]'' Forty Most Asked 
Questions Concerning CEQ's National Environmental Policy Act 
Regulations, 46 FR 18026 (1981) (emphasis added).
    \10\ Although NHTSA included ``augural'' standards for MYs 2022-
2025 in its previous CAFE rulemaking, those standards are not final. 
In the absence of additional rulemaking activity, those standards 
would not be enforceable. However, assuming that no standard would 
exist after MY 2021 for purposes of the ``no action'' alternative 
would not be a reasonable assumption (in light of NHTSA's statutory 
responsibility to promulgate standards and the continuous forty-year 
history of the program), nor would it provide meaningful information 
to the decisionmaker for purposes of evaluating the impacts of the 
action alternatives. At this time, NHTSA believes that the 
continuation of the status quo ante, particularly that the final MY 
2021 standards would continue indefinitely, is the most appropriate 
baseline against which to compare the proposed regulatory 
alternatives.
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     ``Action'' alternatives represented by calculating a lower 
bound and upper bound of a range of reasonable annual fuel economy 
standards, from MY 2022 forward.\11\ The calculations and the related 
evaluation of impacts would be performed separately for passenger cars 
and light trucks at each of these points so as to demonstrate their 
effects independently, since car and truck standards could change at 
different rates

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from one another and at different rates in different years. These 
alternatives would bracket the range of actions NHTSA may select. In 
sum, in its final rule, NHTSA would be able to select an action 
alternative from any stringency level within that range. NHTSA seeks 
public comments on the stringency levels at which to define the lower 
and upper bounds of this range of reasonable alternatives.
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    \11\ CEQ guidance provides that agencies may use representative 
examples covering the ``full spectrum'' of reasonable alternatives 
for purposes of presenting the ``range of alternatives'' in an EIS. 
Forty Most Asked Questions Concerning CEQ's National Environmental 
Policy Act Regulations, 46 FR 18026 (Mar. 23, 1981).
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     The preferred alternative, reflecting annual fuel economy 
standards for both passenger cars and light trucks that fall at or 
between the upper and lower bounds identified above. NHTSA has not yet 
identified its preferred alternative. NHTSA seeks comments on how it 
should define and balance the statutory criteria to choose the 
preferred alternative, given the statutory requirement of setting 
``maximum feasible'' fuel economy standards. 49 U.S.C. 32902(f). When 
suggesting an approach, please explain the recommended way to balance 
EPCA's factors (technological feasibility, economic practicability, the 
effect of other motor vehicle standards of the Government on fuel 
economy, and the need of the United States to conserve energy).\12\
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    \12\ Note that NHTSA is statutorily prohibited from considering 
statutorily-provided flexibility mechanisms in determining what 
standards would be maximum feasible. 49 U.S.C. 32902(h).
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    Thus, NHTSA plans to analyze the impacts of eight different 
standards in the Draft EIS: Two points bracketing the possible action 
alternatives for passenger cars, two points bracketing the possible 
alternatives for light trucks, a No Action Alternative and a preferred 
alternative for passenger cars, and a No Action Alternative and a 
preferred alternative for light trucks. We note that the NPRM and 
Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) may analyze additional alternatives 
within the brackets described in the Draft EIS in order to explore 
different approaches to balancing the statutory factors.
    NHTSA will analyze the lower bound and upper bound of a range of 
average annual fuel economy standards that would satisfy EPCA's 
requirement that the standards be ``maximum feasible'' for each model 
year, based on the different ways NHTSA could weigh EPCA's four 
statutory factors. Generally speaking, more stringent average annual 
fuel economy standards might weigh energy conservation and 
environmental considerations more heavily and technological feasibility 
and economic practicability concerns less heavily. In contrast, less 
stringent average annual fuel economy standards might weigh 
technological feasibility and economic practicability concerns more 
heavily and energy conservation and environmental considerations less 
heavily.
    The range of alternatives will reflect differences in the degree of 
technology adoption across the fleet, in costs to manufacturers and 
consumers, and in conservation of oil and related impacts to the 
environment. For example, the most stringent average annual fuel 
economy standard NHTSA will evaluate would require greater adoption of 
fuel-saving technology across the fleet, including more advanced 
technology, than the least stringent average annual fuel economy 
standard NHTSA will evaluate. As a result, the most stringent 
alternative would impose greater costs and achieve greater energy 
conservation.
    The changes in stringency considered in the lower and upper bounds 
may be defined as ``average'' changes in stringency; the preferred 
alternative and actual standards may either be constant throughout the 
period or may vary from year to year. However, analysis of the average 
yearly change over that period would provide sufficient environmental 
analysis to bracket the range of environmental impacts of reasonable 
alternatives and allow for a reasoned choice among the alternatives 
presented.
    NHTSA may select the lower or upper bound levels of stringency for 
passenger cars and for light trucks as its preferred alternative, or it 
may select levels of stringency that fall between those bounds. Within 
the range identified above, NHTSA may consider setting more stringent 
standards for the earlier years of the rule than for the later years, 
or, alternatively, setting less stringent standards for the earlier 
years of the rule than for the later years, depending on our assessment 
of what would be ``maximum feasible'' for those time periods for each 
fleet. In addition, NHTSA may consider setting standards for passenger 
cars and light trucks that change at different rates between the low 
and high levels it is considering, depending on a determination of the 
maximum feasible level for each fleet over time. NHTSA also may select 
``maximum feasible'' fuel economy standards for some or all model years 
that decrease or remain the same as compared to the immediately prior 
model year(s).
    In selecting a preferred alternative, NHTSA is also mindful of its 
responsibility under Executive Order 13783, signed by President Donald 
J. Trump on March 28, 2017, to ensure that ``necessary and appropriate 
environmental regulations comply with the law, are of greater benefit 
than cost, when permissible, achieve environmental improvements for the 
American people, and are developed through transparent processes that 
employ the best available peer-reviewed science and economics.'' \13\ 
E.O. 13783, Promoting Energy independence and Economic Growth (Mar. 28, 
2017).
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    \13\ The CAFE program is not strictly an environmental one, as 
it was created under EPCA as part of a national energy policy to 
reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil. However, fuel economy standards 
do have environmental impacts, and as noted above, NHTSA construes 
the statutory factors in EPCA as including environmental 
considerations. The environmental impacts will be analyzed in the 
EIS, and NHTSA is mindful of its obligations under E.O. 13783.
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    Planned Analysis. While the main focus of NHTSA's prior CAFE EISs 
for light duty vehicles (i.e., the EIS for MYs 2012-2016 and MYs 2017-
2025) was the quantification of impacts to energy, air quality, and 
climate, and qualitative analysis of life-cycle impacts and cumulative 
impacts, it also addressed other potentially affected resources. NHTSA 
conducted a qualitative review of impacts on resources such as water 
resources, biological resources, land use, hazardous materials, safety, 
noise, historic and cultural resources, and environmental justice.
    Similar to past EIS practice, NHTSA plans to analyze environmental 
impacts related to fuel and energy use, emissions and their effects on 
climate change and the environment,\14\ air quality,\15\ natural 
resources, and the human environment. NHTSA will address life-cycle 
impacts consistent with its past EISs, by focusing on reviewing and 
summarizing findings from existing, credible scientific information 
evaluating the most significant environmental impacts from some of the 
fuels, materials, and technologies that may be used to comply with the 
Proposed Action and alternatives. NHTSA also will consider the 
cumulative impacts of the proposed standards for MY 2022-2025 passenger 
cars and light trucks together with any past, present, and reasonably 
foreseeable future actions.
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    \14\ NHTSA is planning to include in this EIS a quantitative 
analysis to estimate the impact of the alternatives on ocean 
acidification based on changes in atmospheric CO2 
concentrations.
    \15\ Consistent with past practice, in addition to the air 
quality analysis presented in the Draft and Final EIS, NHTSA will 
conduct a national-scale photochemical air quality modeling and 
health risks assessment that will be included in the Final EIS, but 
not the Draft EIS, due to the substantial time required to complete 
the analysis. In addition, because of the lead time required for 
this analysis, it will be based on the alternatives presented in the 
Draft EIS, but not the alternatives as they may be revised for the 
Final EIS. Still, NHTSA believes the analysis will provide 
meaningful information for the decisionmaker and the public.

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[[Page 34744]]

    NHTSA anticipates uncertainty in estimating the potential 
environmental impacts related to climate change. To account for this 
uncertainty, NHTSA plans to evaluate a range of potential global 
temperature changes that may result from changes in fuel and energy 
consumption and GHG emissions attributable to new CAFE standards. It is 
difficult to quantify how the specific impacts due to the potential 
temperature changes attributable to new CAFE standards may affect many 
aspects of the environment. NHTSA will endeavor to gather the key 
relevant and credible information using a transparent process that 
employs the best available peer-reviewed science and economics. NHTSA 
invites public comments on the scope of its analysis on climate change 
impacts, including citations to peer-reviewed scientific articles to 
frame and analyze the relevant issues.
    In order to streamline its documentation and eliminate redundancy, 
NHTSA plans not to include analyses of either monetized health benefits 
in its air quality analysis or monetized climate change benefits in its 
climate change analysis in the EIS, as both of those analyses will be 
included in its RIA (consistent with past practice), which is subject 
to public notice and comment concurrently with the EIS. NHTSA will 
incorporate the analyses in the RIA by reference in the EIS consistent 
with the requirements of the CEQ implementing regulations. 40 CFR 
1502.21. The EIS will continue to present analyses on air quality 
emissions (including non-monetized health impacts), GHG emissions, and 
climate change impacts (including impacts on CO2 
concentrations, temperature, sea-level rise, and precipitation).
    NHTSA expects to rely on previously published EISs, incorporating 
material by reference ``when the effect will be to cut down on bulk 
without impeding agency and public review of the action.'' Id. 
Therefore, the NHTSA NEPA analysis and documentation will incorporate 
by reference relevant materials, including portions of the agency's 
prior NEPA documents, where appropriate.
    Scoping and Public Participation. NHTSA's NEPA analysis for the MY 
2022-2025 CAFE standards will consider the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts of proposed standards and those of 
reasonable alternatives. The scoping process initiated by this notice 
seeks public comment on the range of alternatives under consideration, 
on the impacts to be considered, and on the most important matters for 
in-depth analysis in the EIS. See 40 CFR 1500.5(d), 1501.7, 1508.25. 
All comments relevant to the scoping process are welcome.
    NHTSA invites the public to participate in the scoping process \16\ 
by submitting written comments concerning the appropriate scope of the 
NEPA analysis for the proposed CAFE standards to the docket number 
identified in the heading of this notice, using any of the methods 
described in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. NHTSA does not plan 
to hold a public scoping meeting because, based on prior experience, 
written comments will be effective in identifying and narrowing the 
considerations for analysis.
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    \16\ Consistent with NEPA and implementing regulations, NHTSA is 
sending this notice directly to: (1) Federal agencies having 
jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to the 
environmental impacts involved or authorized to develop and enforce 
environmental standards; (2) the Governors of every State, to share 
with the appropriate agencies and offices within their 
administrations and with the local jurisdictions within their 
States; (3) organizations representing state and local governments 
and Indian tribes; and (4) other stakeholders that NHTSA reasonably 
expects to be interested in the NEPA analysis for the MY 2022-2025 
CAFE standards. See 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C); 49 CFR 520.21(g); 40 CFR 
1501.7, 1506.6.
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    NHTSA is interested in comments on its bracketing approach to 
presenting a reasonable range of alternatives. Subject to the statutory 
requirements of EPCA/EISA, a variety of potential alternatives could be 
considered that meet the purpose and need for the agency's action, each 
falling along a theoretically infinite continuum of potential 
standards. As described above, NHTSA plans to address this by 
identifying alternatives at the upper and lower bounds of a range 
within which we believe the statutory requirement for ``maximum 
feasible'' would be satisfied, as well as identifying and analyzing the 
impacts of a preferred alternative. In this way, NHTSA expects to 
bracket the potential environmental impacts of the standards it may 
select.\17\
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    \17\ Should NHTSA ultimately choose to set standards at levels 
other than the preferred alternative identified in the NPRM and 
Draft EIS, we believe that this bracketing will properly inform the 
decisionmaker, so long as the standards are set within its 
parameters.
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    Two important purposes of scoping are identifying the significant 
considerations that merit in-depth analysis in the EIS and identifying 
and eliminating from detailed analysis the matters that are not 
significant and therefore require only a brief discussion in the EIS. 
40 CFR 1500.4(g), 1501.7(a). In light of these purposes, written 
comments should include an internet citation (with a date last visited) 
to each study or report cited in the comments, if one is available. If 
a document cited is not available to the public online, the commenter 
should either provide sufficient bibliographical information to allow 
NHTSA to locate and obtain a copy of the study or attach a copy to the 
comments.\18\ Commenters should indicate how each document cited or 
attached to their comments is relevant to the NEPA analysis and 
indicate the specific pages and passages in the attachment that are 
most informative.
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    \18\ Please be mindful of copyright restrictions when attaching 
documents to any comments, as they will be made publicly available 
in the agency's docket.
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    The more specific the comments are, and the more support they 
provide in identifying peer-reviewed scientific studies and reports, 
the more useful the comments will be to the NEPA process. For example, 
if a comment identifies an additional area of impact or environmental 
concern that NHTSA should analyze, or an analytical tool or model that 
NHTSA should use to evaluate these environmental impacts, the comment 
should clearly describe it and provide a reference to a specific peer-
reviewed scientific study, report, tool, or model, if possible. 
Specific, well-supported comments will help the agency prepare an EIS 
that is focused and relevant and will serve NEPA's overarching aims of 
making high quality information available to decisionmakers and the 
public by ``concentrat[ing] on the issues that are truly significant to 
the action in question, rather than amassing needless detail.'' 40 CFR 
1500.1(b). By contrast, mere assertions that the agency should evaluate 
broad lists or categories of concerns, without support, will not assist 
the scoping process for the proposed standards.
    Please be sure to reference the docket number identified in the 
heading of this notice in any submitted comments. All comments and 
materials received, including the names and addresses of the commenters 
who submit them, will become part of the administrative record and will 
be posted on the web at http://www.regulations.gov.
    Separate Federal Register notices published by EPA will announce 
the availability of the Draft EIS, which will be available for public 
comment, and the Final EIS. NHTSA will issue the Draft EIS concurrently 
with its NPRM. In addition, NHTSA will simultaneously issue a Final EIS 
and Record of Decision (Final Rule), pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 304a, unless 
it is determined that statutory criteria or practicability 
considerations preclude concurrent issuance. NHTSA also plans to 
continue to post information about

[[Page 34745]]

the NEPA process and this CAFE rulemaking on its Web site (http://www.nhtsa.gov).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 21, 2017 under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR parts 1.81 and 1.95.
James Tamm,
Chief, Fuel Economy Division.
[FR Doc. 2017-15701 Filed 7-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P