National Highway Traffic Safety Administration July 26, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule confirms the determination NHTSA announced in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act or 2015 Act) does not apply to the civil penalty rate applicable to automobile manufacturers that fail to meet applicable corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards and are unable to offset such a deficit with compliance credits. In addition, this final rule is finalizing the agency's determination that even if the Inflation Adjustment Act applies, increasing the CAFE civil penalty rate would have a negative economic impact, and therefore, in accordance with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), the current CAFE civil penalty rate of $5.50 should be retained, instead of increasing to $14 in model year 2019.