Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 4 / Monday, January 7, 2002 / Proposed Rules 713

1Congress did not apply either of these

limitations to the incentive program for dedicated

vehicles.

business information, to the Chief

Counsel, NHTSA, U.S. Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20590. In addition, you

should submit two copies, from which

you have deleted the claimed

confidential business information, to

Docket Management at the address

given above under ADDRESSES. When

you send a comment containing

information claimed to be confidential

business information, you should

include a cover letter setting forth the

information specified in our

confidential business information

regulation. (49 CFR part 512.)

Will the Agency Consider Late

Comments?

We will consider all comments that

Docket Management receives before the

close of business on the comment

closing date indicated above under

DATES. To the extent possible, we will

also consider comments that Docket

Management receives after that date.

How Can I Read the Comments

Submitted by Other People?

You may read the comments received

by Docket Management at the address

given above under ADDRESSES. The

hours of the Docket are indicated above

in the same location.

You may also see the comments on

the Internet. To read the comments on

the Internet, take the following steps:

(1) Go to the Docket Management

System (DMS) Web page of the

Department of Transportation (http://

dms.dot.gov/).

(2) On that page, click on ‘‘search.’’

(3) On the next page (http://

dms.dot.gov/search/), type in the fourdigit docket number shown at the

beginning of this document. Example: If

the docket number were ‘‘NHTSA–

1998–1234,’’ you would type ‘‘1234.’’

After typing the docket number, click on

‘‘search.’’

(4) On the next page, which contains

docket summary information for the

docket you selected, click on the desired

comments. You may download the

comments. However, since the

comments are imaged documents,

instead of word processing documents,

the ‘‘pdf’’ versions of the documents are

word searchable.

Please note that even after the

comment closing date, we will continue

to file relevant information in the

Docket as it becomes available. Further,

some people may submit late comments.

Accordingly, we recommend that you

periodically check the Docket for new

material.

William H. Walsh,

Associate Administrator for Plans and Policy.

[FR Doc. 02–154 Filed 1–4–02; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

49 CFR Part 538

[Docket No. NHTSA–2001–10774]

RIN 2127–AI41

Automotive Fuel Economy

Manufacturing Incentives for

Alternative FuelVehicles

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA),

Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of intent to issue a notice

of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

SUMMARY: To provide an incentive for

the production of vehicles that can

operate on certain alternative fuels as

well as on regular petroleum fuels,

Congress established a special

procedure for calculating the fuel

economy of those vehicles for the

purpose of determining compliance

with the Corporate Average Fuel

Economy standards. This procedure

increases the fuel economy attributed to

such ‘‘dual-fueled’’ vehicles. By statute,

the incentive is available through the

2004 model year and may be extended

by up to four additional model years

through rulemaking.

The purpose of this document is to

announce the intention to issue a

proposal to extend the availability of the

incentive for one or more additional

model years.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The

following persons at the National

Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington,

DC 20590:

For non-legal issues: Mr. Kenneth

Katz, Consumer Programs Division,

Office of Planning and Consumer

Programs, NPS–32, Room 5320,

telephone (202) 366–4936, facsimile

(202) 493–2290.

For legal issues: Otto Matheke, Office

of the Chief Counsel, NCC–20, Room

5219, telephone (202) 366–5263,

facsimile (202) 366–3820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Congress created the Corporate

Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program

when it enacted the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act of 1975 (Public Law

94–163; Dec. 22, 1975). The CAFE

statutory provisions, now codified in

chapter 329 of Title 49 of the United

States Code (49 U.S.C. 32901 et seq.),

mandate fuel economy standards that

must be met by vehicle manufacturers.

These standards apply separately to

each manufacturer’s annual fleet of

passenger cars and to its annual fleet of

light trucks under 8,500 lbs. gross

vehicle weight rating, instead of

applying to individual vehicles. Each

manufacturer’s average fuel economy is

determined by the Environmental

Protection Agency in accordance with

procedures set forth in 49 U.S.C. 32904.

Those procedures provide for

determining the fuel economy of a

manufacturer’s model types produced in

a particular model year and calculating

a weighted fuel economy average for the

manufacturer.

Congress amended the CAFE

provisions when it enacted the

Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988

(‘‘AMFA’’) (Public Law 100–94; October

14, 1988). The purposes of AMFA were

to encourage the development and use

of methanol, ethanol and natural gas as

transportation fuels and to promote the

production of alternative fuel vehicles

(AFVs). For the latter purpose, AMFA

provides special procedures for

calculating the fuel economy of

‘‘dedicated’’ alternative fuel vehicles

and ‘‘dual-fueled’’ vehicles that meet

specified eligibility criteria. ‘‘Dedicated

vehicles’’ are cars or light trucks

designed to operate exclusively either

on natural gas or on a methanol or

ethanol fuel mixture composed of at

least 85 percent of either substance.

‘‘Dual-fueled vehicles’’ have the

capability to operate on conventional

petroleum and the capability to operate

on an alternative fuel. Most dual-fueled

vehicles produced to date are capable of

operating on E85 (a blend of 85%

ethanol and 15% gasoline) and either

gasoline or diesel. The special

calculation procedures used in

determining the fuel economy of

alternative fuel vehicles substantially

increase the fuel economy ratings of

these vehicles.

In creating the incentive program for

dual-fueled vehicles, Congress expressly

limited both the extent to which a

manufacturer can avail itself of the

incentive in any model year as well as

the duration of the incentives.1 For the

1993–2004 model years, the maximum

increase in CAFE available to a

714 Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 4 / Monday, January 7, 2002 / Proposed Rules

manufacturer for producing qualifying

dual-fueled vehicles is 1.2 miles per

gallon.

AMFA provides that the incentive is

available through the end of the 2004

model year. In addition, AMFA

provides that the agency may either

extend the program to model years

beyond the end of the 2004 model year

or allow the program to terminate at that

time. An extension of up to four model

years is authorized. If the program were

extended, the maximum increase in

CAFE that could be attributed to the

incentive would be limited to .9 miles

per gallon in any of those model years.

AMFA further directs that NHTSA

evaluate the dual-fuel incentive program

and provide a report to Congress

analyzing the success of the incentive

program and preliminary conclusion

regarding extension of the program

beyond the 2004 model year.

Forthcoming Actions

In the near future, the agency plans to

issue the report to Congress and a

proposal to extend the incentive

program for one or more additional

model years.

Issued on: December 31, 2001.

Noble Bowie,

Director, Office of Planning and Consumer

Programs.

[FR Doc. 01–32260 Filed 12–31–01; 3:21 pm]

BILLING CODE 4910–59–P