WASHINGTON – The
House Energy and Commerce Committee today released for discussion a staff
draft of legislation to authorize the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) to set passenger car fuel economy (CAFE) standards.
The committee has scheduled a
hearing for Wednesday, May 3 at 10 a.m. in room 2123 of the
Rayburn
House
Office
Building to discuss the draft.
The draft would give NHTSA the
authority to set new CAFE standards for passenger cars, much like those that it
set for light trucks. The standards for light trucks, announced in March, were
increased from 21.6 to 24 miles per gallon. The Department of Transportation
says that the light truck standards will save 10.7 billion gallons of fuel.
Since the 1990 model year, standards have remained at 27.5 miles per
gallon.