ELR Citation: ELR 20815
No(s). 93-1210 (D.C. Cir. Feb 3, 1995)

The court denies a trade association's petition for review of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) rulemaking setting the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for model year 1990 at 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg). The court finds that the record adequately supports the NHTSA's conclusion that maintaining that standard would not significantly affect the motoring public's safety. The NHTSA reasonably concluded that the 27.5 mpg standard did not cause automobile manufacturers to downsize or to refrain from upsizing their cars, and the record does not support the contention that consumers are priced out of the market for larger, heavier cars because of the standard. Although the NHTSA failed to respond adequately to the study on which the trade association rested its contention that the standard had a significant effect on safety, that failure is no basis for overturning the NHTSA's decision. The overwhelming fact is that no automobile manufacturer is on record stating that it would have added weight to its automobiles, or taken any other action, in any model year had the NHTSA relaxed the 1990 CAFE standard.

[A related decision is published at 22 ELR 20542.]

Counsel for Petitioners
Sam Kazman
Competitive Enterprise Institute
1001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste. 1250, Washington DC 20036
(202) 331-1010

Counsel for Respondent
Peter R. Maier
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Before EDWARDS, Chief Judge, GINSBURG and HENDERSON, Circuit Judges.