Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Presidential Documents 4907 

Memorandum of January 26, 2009 

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

Memorandum for the Secretary of Transportation [and] the Administrator 

of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

In 2007, the Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act 

(EISA). This law mandates that, as part of the Nation’s efforts to achieve 

energy independence, the Secretary of Transportation prescribe annual fuel 

economy increases for automobiles, beginning with model year 2011, resulting in a combined fuel economy fleet average of at least 35 miles per 

gallon by model year 2020. On May 2, 2008, the National Highway Traffic 

Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

entitled Average Fuel Economy Standards, Passenger Cars and Light Trucks; 

Model Years 2011–2015, 73 Fed. Reg. 24352. In the notice and comment 

period, the NHTSA received numerous comments, some of them contending 

that certain aspects of the proposed rule, including appendices providing 

for preemption of State laws, were inconsistent with provisions of EISA 

and the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, 549 U.S. 497 (2007). 

Federal law requires that the final rule regarding fuel economy standards 

be adopted at least 18 months before the beginning of the model year 

(49 U.S.C. 32902(g)(2)). In order for the model year 2011 standards to meet 

this requirement, the NHTSA must publish the final rule in the Federal 

Register by March 30, 2009. To date, the NHTSA has not published a 

final rule. 

Therefore, I request that: 

(a) in order to comply with the EISA requirement that fuel economy increases 

begin with model year 2011, you take all measures consistent with law, 

and in coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency, to publish 

in the Federal Register by March 30, 2009, a final rule prescribing increased 

fuel economy for model year 2011; 

(b) before promulgating a final rule concerning model years after model 

year 2011, you consider the appropriate legal factors under the EISA, the 

comments filed in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the 

relevant technological and scientific considerations, and to the extent feasible, 

the forthcoming report by the National Academy of Sciences mandated 

under section 107 of EISA; and 

(c) in adopting the final rules in paragraphs (a) and (b) above, you consider 

whether any provisions regarding preemption are consistent with the EISA, 

the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA and other relevant 

provisions of law and the policies underlying them. 

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 

benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any 

party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its 

officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. 


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4908 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 28, 2009 / Presidential Documents 

The Secretary of Transportation is hereby authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, January 26, 2009 

[FR Doc. E9–1942 

Filed 1–27–09; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 4910–62–P 


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