MotorVehicleRegs.COM

Regulatory and Legislative Tracking Reports for Vehicle Manufacturers and Suppliers

Since 1999, Kardos & Associates LLC has supplied the auto industry with the most comprehensive regulatory and legislative tracking reports available. We currently offer clients the following:

Motor Vehicle Safety & Emissions Regulatory Update (the REG UPDATE)

The REG UPDATE has been tracking US and Canadian regulatory activity impacting the auto industry for over twenty years. Regulations developed by the NHTSA, FMCSA, EPA, FCC, CARB, Transport Canada, and Environment Canada are the focus. For each rulemaking, the Reg Update provides a description of the rulemaking, comment deadlines, effective dates, a docket reference, and links to documents available online. Deadlines and critical path items are color-coded so that you can quickly identify what’s new and important. In addition to being an excellent tool for tracking regulatory activity, the Reg Update is a great archive of past actions. The report contains information on virtually every rulemaking affecting automakers from the past two decades. Approximately 400 pages in length.

U.S. Safety & Fuel Economy Regulatory & Legislative Update
The U.S. Safety & Fuel Economy Regulatory & Legislative Update provides a snapshot of the past month’s legislative and regulatory activities relating to safety, emissions and fuel economy. The report provides brief summaries of notices issued by DOT, EPA, CARB and others. With regard to federal legislation, the report covers newly introduced bills, information on committee hearings, etc. Activities at the state level pertaining to emerging technologies (e.g., automated vehicles, advance driver assistance systems, EVs and EV infrastructure, etc.) are also covered.

Federal Legislation Tracking Report
Our legislative tracking report focuses on matters relating to environment and energy, safety and fuel economy/climate change. The report covers two years-worth of bills (the length of each Congressional session) and includes summaries and status updates for each tracked bill. Links to bill text and related information are provided.

All of our reports are distributed monthly via email as a PDF. Subscribers also get access to an online archive of past reports.

For pricing, contact Dale Kardos at (202) 3064997 or [email protected]. For more information about Kardos & Associates LLC, see www.kardosllc.com.

For a PDF of this information, click here.

Trump's NHTSA

I am in the regulatory affairs business so every year around this time, I put together a list of NHTSA regulations that I think will be issued in the coming year.  Each year I somehow manage to get it wrong and in 2016, things were no different.  Only a handful of my predictions came true.  Yes, rules concerning V2V communications, minimum sound requirements for electric vehicles, fuel consumption rule for heavy trucks were issued as expected.  Many other rules, however, addressing important topics like child restraint side impact testing, bus rollover, and EDRs never made it out. 

What happened in 2016 is that the Administrator called an audible and ran an end-run around regular order and pursued a number of non-regulatory measures – things like the automatic emergency braking agreement, automated vehicle guidance, distraction guidelines for portable devices, cybersecurity guidelines, and a major upgrade to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).  Of these initiatives, only the AEB agreement was finalized and now, as a result of the recent lawsuit filed by consumer and safety advocates who think that AEB should be a mandatory, even it may be in jeopardy.

As we prepare for a new era of regulation under Donald Trump, folks are now wondering what will become of these initiatives and the backlog of rules.  To get a hint at how 2017 will play out, we should probably take a look at what transpired back in January of 2001 when George W. Bush took office.  It’s been almost sixteen years since Andy Card (George W. Bush’s Chief of Staff) issued his January 20, 2001 memorandum to heads of agencies advising them not to send any new regulations to the Office of the Federal Register until they could be reviewed by the new administration.   Those of us who were around back then know that this memo had a chilling effect on regulatory activity.  Consequently, in 2001, only a few rules were issued by NHTSA.  Not-so-critical issues like headlight glare and trunk entrapment were addressed.   

If history repeats itself, Reince Priebus will issue a similar directive on January 20, 2017 and there will be few, if any, new regulations published in the year to come. No shocker there.  Afterall, Trump campaigned on eliminating regulations.  But what about all those non-regulatory actions Mark Rosekind initiated in 2016?  What will become of those?  As proposed, the NCAP upgrade will incentivize manufacturers to install important crash avoidance technologies such as forward collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot detection, semi-automatic headlamp beam switching, rear automatic, and pedestrian automatic emergency braking.  But the NCAP upgrade will also force manufacturers to redesign their vehicles to comply with new oblique crash test and pedestrian protection requirements.  It is fine for NHTSA to push the adoption of crash avoidance technology via NCAP but crash test standards and new injury criteria are probably best pursued via traditional rulemaking procedures.

Then there is NHTSA’s automated vehicle policy.   Pretty much everyone involved in this space would like to see leadership at the federal level.  Every month that goes by where we have a federal policy that lacks the clarity stakeholders require presents another opportunity for state DOTs and their legislatures to create a patchwork of state requirements that could stifle innovation and delay the realization of benefits.  Leadership and swift action in this area is needed.  We cannot afford to have state agencies issuing rule after rule while the new administration does nothing.  We will also need leadership from NHTSA on the V2V communication rule as this is another complex undertaking that requires the support of the federal government.  With distraction rampant and fatalities on the rise in the U.S., we need a V2V framework that will make it possible for important safety applications to be delivered in the future.  If the agency puts the V2V rule on hold or the FCC takes back the spectrum that was granted to our industry, live saving applications life Left Turn Assist and Intersection Movement Assist may never be realized.

So, as we prepare to say goodbye to 2016 and ring in the new year, I hope that the new administration will resolve to follow regular order and take the actions necessary to support the testing and deployment of promising new technological safety advancements.

Dale Kardos

President, Dale Kardos & Associates, Inc.

About Dale Kardos: Dale Kardos is a regulatory affairs consultant based in Washington, DC.  For over 20 years, his firm Dale Kardos & Associates, Inc. has been assisting vehicle OEMs, suppliers, automotive trade associations and others in confronting environment, energy and safety regulation and legislation.  He is also the founder of Mobilis Trading LLC which offers an online auction platform for buying and selling regulatory compliance credits.

Energy Department Study Examines Potential to Reduce Transportation Petroleum Use and Carbon Emissions

On March 14, 2013, DOE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory released a new study that finds the United States has the potential to reduce petroleum use and GHG emissions in the transportation sector by more than 80% by 2050. The Transportation Energy Futures (TEF) study identifies possible paths to a low-carbon, low-petroleum future in the U.S. transportation sector.

The transportation sector accounts for 71% of total U.S. petroleum consumption and 33% of our nation's total carbon emissions. The TEF study assesses the avenues and identifies possible strategies to achieve deep cuts in petroleum use and GHG emissions in this sector. According to the study, achieving deep reductions will require an inclusive approach, combining strategies to increase fuel economy for all types of vehicles, reduce use of transportation while providing comparable service, and expand use of low-carbon fuels, including biofuels, electricity, and hydrogen.

The nine reports that are part of the TEF study include:

Light Duty Vehicles (Personal Cars and Light Trucks)

• Deployment pathways issues including the development of, transition to, and challenges of advanced technology
• Non-cost barriers to advanced vehicles such as range anxiety, refueling availability, technology reliability, and consumer familiarity.

Non-Light-Duty Vehicles (Trucks, Rail, Aircraft, and Other Modes)

• Opportunities to improve non-light-duty vehicle efficiency for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, off-road vehicles and equipment, aircraft, marine vessels, and railways
• Opportunities for switching modes of transporting freight, such as moving freight from trucks to rail and ships.

Fuels

• Infrastructure expansion required for deployment of low-GHG fuels, including electricity, biofuels, hydrogen, and natural gas
• Balance of biomass resource demand and supply, including allocations for various transportation fuels, electric generation, and other applications.

Transportation Demand

• Opportunities to save energy and abate GHG emissions through community development and built environment strategies
• Trip reduction through mass transit, tele-working, tele-shopping, carpooling, and improvement of vehicle performance through efficient driving
• Freight demand patterns, including trends in operational needs and projections of future use levels.

Click here for more information. 

Monthly Regulatory & Legislative Tracking Reports Available for 2013 - Sign Up Now!

Since 1995, Dale Kardos & Associates, Inc. (DKA Inc.) has been supplying automakers, automotive suppliers and their trade associations with comprehensive detailed regulatory and legislative tracking reports.  Each month, DKA Inc. publishes the following three related, but uniquely-focused, tracking reports:

The Reg Update

The Reg Update is a monthly report that tracks the status of all North American regulatory activity concerning emissions, fuel economy (CO2) and safety (we track all regulatory actions of NHTSA, EPA, California Air Resources Board, Transport Canada, Environment Canada, and Section 177 States (i.e., states that have adopted CA’s Low Emission Vehicle program rules). For each rulemaking, the Reg Update provides electronic links to the latest official publications and includes information concerning comment period deadlines, anticipated future actions, projected implementation dates, and more.  In print since 1998, the Reg Update also serves as a tremendous archive of past actions. 

U.S. Motor Vehicle Safety and Legislative Update

The U.S. Motor Vehicle Safety & Legislative Update is a monthly report summarizing the past month’s legislative and regulatory activity concerning motor vehicle safety, emissions, and fuel economy/GHG issues.  The report provides brief summaries of and electronic links to key Federal Register notices, Congressional bills, public laws, NHTSA interpretation letters, recall listings, defect reports, NCAP test results, etc.  The report also covers financial incentive program announcements coming out of the Department of Energy, California and elsewhere.

Status of Motor Vehicle Related Legislation in the 113^th Congress

This report is devoted to keeping automakers and supplier up-to-date on the status of all legislation pending in the U.S. Congress that may potentially affect the auto industry.  We cover the introduction of all new bills and track their status over the course of the next two years.  We’ll provide updates on any official new activity related to the bill, increases in sponsorship, etc.  The report typically groups bills into the following categories:  Appropriations, Climate Change/GHG/Environment, Financial Incentive Programs, Biofuels and Flex Fuel Vehicles, Funding for Vehicle Development, Safety, Toxic Chemicals, misc.

 Report samples are available via the links below:

1.  Download REG UPDATE (SAMPLE - DEC 2012)

2. Download US Motor Vehicle Regulatory and Legislative Update (Dec 2012)

3. Download 111TH CONGRESS MOTOR VEHICLE LEGISLATION TRACKING SUMMARY (SAMPLE)

Pricing: The above reports can be purchased individually or at a discount (as a package).  A one year subscription is required (12 monthly updates).  For pricing and/or questions, please send an email to Dale Kardos ([email protected]).

DOE U.S. launches new $120 million EV battery project

On November 30, 2012, DOE announced a new $120-million research project aimed at developing cheaper batteries for electric vehicles.  The project involves establishing a research hub for batteries and energy storage, backed by five national laboratories, five Midwestern universities and four private firms. The four companies joining the project are Dow Chemical Co, Applied Materials Inc, Johnson Controls Inc and Clean Energy Trust.  The project will also address energy storage for the electric grid.  For more information, click here.

DOE Releases New Analysis Showing Significant Advances in Electric Vehicle Deployment

DOE released the following announcement on February 9, 2011 regarding President Obama’s goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy today released One Million Electric Vehicles by 2015 (pdf - 220 kb), an analysis of advances in electric vehicle deployment and progress to date in meeting President Obama's goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.  The analysis shows that while the goal is ambitious, it is also achievable based on steps already taken as part of the Recovery Act and additional policy initiatives proposed by President Obama -- including improvements to existing consumer tax credits, programs to help cities prepare for the growing demand for electric vehicles, and strong support for research and development to continue reducing the cost of electric vehicles.

"President Obama's goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 represents a key component of our strategy to dramatically reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and ensure that the U.S. leads the world in the growing electric vehicle manufacturing industry," said DOE Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs David Sandalow.  "This is a race America can win -- if we answer the President's call to out-innovate, out-build, and out-compete the rest of the world." 

One Million Electric Vehicles by 2015 details DOE investments in electric vehicle infrastructure, research and development, and demonstration projects nationwide that are laying the groundwork for achieving the President's goal.  These projects include support for nearly 50 manufacturing facilities and demonstration projects nationwide.  These efforts are helping to reduce the costs of advanced batteries and electric vehicles and gathering real-world data for consumers and local communities that will inform future deployment efforts.

The Department's analysis of the current market outlook indicates that manufacturers are planning to produce in the range of one million electric vehicles by 2015.  While industry-wide, manufacturing capacity is not likely to be the limiting factor in reaching the President's goal, additional policy steps are needed to further drive innovation, reduce costs, and spur consumer demand.

The Obama Administration is proposing a three-part strategy that supports electric vehicle manufacturing and adoption through improvements to tax credits in current law, investments in research and development (R&D), and a new competitive program to encourage communities to invest in electric vehicle infrastructure.  This plan will drive demand and position the United States as a global leader in manufacturing and deploying next-generation vehicle technologies.  The strategy includes:

• Make electric vehicles more affordable with a rebate up to $7,500: The President is proposing to transform the existing $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles into a rebate that will be available to consumers immediately at the point of sale, instead of having to wait for tax returns to be filed.
• Advance innovative technologies through new R&D investments: Building on Recovery Act investments, the President's FY2012 budget proposal will include enhanced R&D investments in electric drive, batteries, and energy storage technologies.
• Reward communities that invest in electric vehicle infrastructure through competitive grants: To provide an incentive for communities to invest in EV infrastructure and remove regulatory barriers, the President is proposing a new initiative that will provide grants to up to 30 communities that are prioritizing advanced technology vehicle deployment.

Combined, these policies will help achieve the President's goal of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 while creating new jobs and strengthening U.S. leadership in the growing EV market. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Program funds research and development for energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicle technologies.

 

Moratorium on New Regulations

On January 20, 2009, Rahm Emanuel, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, issued a memorandum for the heads of executive departments and agencies regarding the President's plan for managing the Federal regulatory process at the beginning of his Administration. The memo states that, subject to exceptions, no proposed or final regulation is to be sent to the Office of the Federal Register for publication unless and until it has been reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President. Additionally, the memo indicates that all proposed and final regulations that have not been published in the Federal Register shall be withdrawn until they can be reviewed and approved. Further, it advises department and agency heads to consider extending for 60 days the effective date of the regulations that have been published in the Federal Register but not yet taken effect for the purpose of reviewing questions of law and policy raised by those regulations.