WASHINGTON -- The EPA and NHTSA released their joint notice of proposed rulemaking Thursday for the 2021-25 model year emissions standards.
This is not the final rule, but a step in the federal rulemaking process.
Options are included for consideration, but Trump administration officials say they favor a freeze at the 2020 model year level of about 35 mpg for the fleetwide average.
The agencies published the notice on their websites Thursday. It becomes official when it is published in the Federal Register, possibly on Friday, at which point a 60-day comment period begins.
The agencies will also hold sessions in Washington, Detroit and Los Angeles to gather feedback. Dates for those meetings have not been set.
The agencies will then spend an undetermined number of months reviewing the comments before issuing a final rule.
Many states and environmental groups are expected to mount legal challenges to the proposals, and to the final rule if it maintains the proposed rollback of emissions standards.
