Description: Challenge to an interim final rule that provided that a 2016 inflation adjustment to the civil penalty for violations of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards would not go into effect until model year 2022.
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Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 04/06/2021 Order Download Motion for expedited review denied and cross-motion to hold in abeyance granted. Second Circuit Held Challenge to Fuel Economy Penalty Increase Delay in Abeyance. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s motion to hold in abeyance challenges to an interim final rule published on January 14, 2021 that delayed an inflation adjustment to the civil penalty for violations of fuel economy standards. Petitioners had moved for expedited review, but the court denied that request. The court also referred to the merits panel a motion by Tesla, Inc. for summary vacatur or a stay pending judicial review. Tesla originally sought to intervene in the proceedings, but then filed its own petition for review. The Second Circuit denied its motion to intervene as moot and granted a motion to intervene by Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which submitted the rulemaking petition to which the interim final rule responded. 03/04/2021 Motion Download Motion for summary vacatur or, in the alternative, a stay pending judicial review filed by Tesla, Inc. 03/04/2021 Opposition Download Respondents filed opposition to petitioners' motion for expedited review and cross-motion to hold petition in abeyance. 02/22/2021 Motion Download Motion for expedited review filed by petitioners. 01/25/2021 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club filed a petition for review challenging an interim final rule published on January 14, 2021 that provided that a 2016 inflation adjustment to the civil penalty for violations of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards would not go into effect until model year 2022. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted the interim final rule in response to an October 2020 rulemaking petition from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The Alliance submitted the rulemaking petition after a Second Circuit ruling in August 2020 reinstated the 2016 penalty increase.