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As part of the rulemaking establishing the model year (MY) 2017-2025 light-duty vehicle GHG standards in 2012, EPA made a regulatory commitment to conduct a Midterm Evaluation (MTE) of the standards established for the later years of the program - 2022-2025. EPA will coordinate with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in conducting the MTE.

Through the MTE, EPA will decide whether the standards for model years 2022-2025, established in 2012, are still appropriate given the latest available data and information. EPA’s decision could go one of three ways: the standards remain appropriate, the standards should be less stringent, or the standards should be more stringent. EPA will examine a wide range of factors, such as developments in powertrain technology, vehicle electrification, light-weighting and vehicle safety impacts, the penetration of fuel efficient technologies in the marketplace, consumer acceptance of fuel efficient technologies, trends in fuel prices and the vehicle fleet, employment impacts, and many others.

EPA’s regulations require several formal steps in the MTE process, including several opportunities for public input. The first step in the process was the issuance jointly by EPA, NHTSA, and CARB of a Draft Technical Assessment Report (TAR) for public comment in July 2016. The Draft TAR is a technical report, not a decision document, and examines a wide range of factors relevant to the 2022-2025 standards. Public input on the Draft TAR, along with any new data and information, will inform a subsequent Proposed Determination which will undergo public comment, and a Final Determination, required by EPA’s regulations by April 2018.  The MTE will be conducted through a collaborative, data-driven, and transparent process. To gather the most robust data and information to inform the MTE, EPA, in coordination with NHTSA and CARB, is conducting extensive outreach with a wide range of stakeholders including auto manufacturers, automotive suppliers, NGOs, consumer groups, labor unions, automobile dealers, states, and others.