I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 978 
To preserve appropriate and achievable Federal standards for greenhouse 
gas emissions and corporate average fuel economy for cars and light 
trucks through model year 2025, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2019 
Ms. MATSUI (for herself, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. 
WELCH, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. TONKO, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 
LOEBSACK, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. PETERS, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. 
SOTO, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To preserve appropriate and achievable Federal standards 
for greenhouse gas emissions and corporate average fuel 
economy for cars and light trucks through model year 
2025, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean and Efficient 
Cars Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) In 2009, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transpor-
tation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis-
tration (NHTSA) reached an historic agreement 
with State regulators, automakers, the United Auto 
Workers, and leaders in the environmental commu-
nity to establish One National Program for Federal 
standards to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-
sions and increase corporate average fuel economy 
(CAFE´) for light duty vehicles, in cooperation and 
alignment with the California Air Resources Board 
(CARB). 
(2) In 2012, as part of One National Program, 
EPA established final GHG emission standards for 
model years 2017 through 2025 and NHTSA estab-
lished final CAFE´ standards for model years 2017 
through 2021 and augural standards for model 
years 2022 through 2025. 
(3) The agencies’ standards are based on the 
specific footprint of vehicles to provide automotive 
manufacturers flexibility and ensure that consumers 
have a choice of a full range of vehicle sizes to meet 
their needs. Under the footprint-based system, small 
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vehicles must meet more stringent standards than 
large vehicles. 
(4) A midterm evaluation of the standards for 
model years 2022 through 2025 concluded that they 
remain feasible for industry, with multiple pathways 
for compliance, and are appropriate for achieving 
the goals of cutting GHG emissions and increasing 
fuel economy. 
(5) In January 2017, EPA issued a final deter-
mination to maintain the existing GHG emissions 
standards for model years 2022 through 2025 as 
prescribed by the 2012 final rule. NHTSA is cur-
rently assessing the augural CAFE´ standards pro-
posed for model years 2022 through 2025 and will 
conduct a rulemaking to prescribe final standards 
for those years. 
(6) The final GHG emission standards and 
augural CAFE´
standards for model years 2022 
through 2025 are projected to achieve an average 
overall fleet-wide emissions target of 173 grams CO2 
per mile and an average overall fleet-wide fuel econ-
omy target of 46.3 miles per gallon by the year 
2025, resulting in a 540 million metric ton reduction 
in greenhouse gases and a 1.2 billion barrel reduc-
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tion in oil consumption over the lifetime of these ve-
hicles. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that maintaining the GHG and CAFE´ standards at 
their current levels through model year 2025— 
(1) is essential to achieving the projected fleet 
wide average goals of 173 grams CO2 per mile and 
46.3 miles per gallon; and 
(2) will result in substantial benefits for Amer-
ican drivers, the environment, public health, and en-
ergy security. 
SEC. 3. NHTSA AVERAGE FUEL ECONOMY STANDARDS FOR 
2021 THROUGH 2025. 
Section 32902(b)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(D) AUTOMOBILE FUEL ECONOMY AVER-
AGE FOR MODEL YEARS 2021 THROUGH 2025.— 
The Secretary shall, not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this subpara-
graph, prescribe by regulation and maintain 
fuel economy standards for model years 2021 
through 2025 that are at least as stringent as 
the final standards for 2021 and the augural 
standards for 2022 through 2025 set out in the 
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2012 joint EPA/DOT Final Rule on 2017 and 
Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Green-
house Gas Emissions and Corporate Average 
Fuel Economy Standards. 
‘‘(E) RESTRICTION ON REVISING STAND-
ARDS
OR
CREATING
NEW
LOOPHOLES.—The 
Secretary may not take any action that could 
effectively reduce the stringency of the average 
fuel economy standards required to be attained 
by each fleet of passenger and non-passenger 
automobiles manufactured for sale in the 
United States for model years up to and includ-
ing 2025, including by revising the trading, 
transferring, availability, or creation of cred-
its.’’. 
SEC. 4. EPA GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSION STANDARDS 
THROUGH 2025. 
(a) AFFIRMING STANDARDS.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall af-
firm, under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 
7521(a)), the greenhouse gas emission standards for light- 
duty vehicles for model years 2017 through 2025 that 
were published in the Federal Register by the Environ-
mental Protection Agency and the National Highway 
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