At a public hearing of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on new CAFE standards, the administration drew opposition from automotive industry advocates and critics on Monday.

In the United States the Corporate Average Fuel Economy or CAFE regulations are designed to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks. Congress passed a bill late last year that mandated NHTSA to set standards requiring cars and light trucks to achieve a 35 miles per gallon fleet average by 2020, or go beyond that level if possible.

The proposed CAFE standards that cover both cars and trucks, require to increase the average fuel economy standard of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015. And in the long term, the cars and light trucks would require to meet a fleetwide average of at least 35 miles per gallon by 2020, up from today’s average of 25 miles per gallon.

At the public hearing the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers questioned about the importance of the statement and ask NHTSA to reverse its right to not draft any statement. The alliance represents the Detroit three as well as Toyota Motor Corp. and six other manufacturers.

Most of NHTSA’s criticism from the public and advocates stems from the way the administration calculated its fuel economy standards. The alliance questioned whether the statement takes into account the costs of meeting those regulations.

According to Charles Territo, the alliance spokesman, “ The rise in gas prices and the shift from light trucks to smaller cars may increase the urgency for more fuel-efficient technologies, but it doesn’t decrease the cost or the time needed to develop those technologies.”

However, Julie Becker, vice president at the Alliance of Automobiles Manufacturers said, in setting the standard, the NHTSA uses a cost-benefit analysis that includes gas prices, balancing the cost to consumers for the fuel efficiency technology and savings from reduced gasoline consumption.

“The energy bill sets a clear trajectory for increasing fuel economy standards for the span of a decade and requires at least steady progress toward a 35 mpg goal in model year 2020,” said Becker while emphasizing on taking a ‘no action’ alternative on drafting the statement by NHTSA. “We do not think it is appropriate for NHTSA to continue to rely on ‘no action’ as its starting point,” she further said.

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