The federal government has chosen to retain sole authority for regulating fuel economy and auto safety. Sometimes new initiatives are proposed by Congress, but most come from the leading federal agency responsible for these matters—the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency ("NHTSA"—pronounced "nit-suh").
When legislation is proposed in Congress, "gasroots" citizens can help make change happen by writing or calling their representatives in Congress in support of or in opposition to particular bills.
When a new rule is proposed by NHTSA, citizens can help by submitting formal comments on the proposal. Any citizen may submit a comment, and the agency is obliged to consider it and make it part of the public record. There is always a strict deadline for committing such comments and they must be in writing, but NHTSA takes comments by e-mail.
To locate your federal legislators, click here.
California's legislature and regulatory agencies are continually active in the area of motor vehicles. The main motivation for this is the decades-long push to clean up California's air. California is one of a minority of states authorized under the federal Clean Air Act to set more stringent standards than the federal ones. Even so, most Californians live in areas that don't meet federal air quality standards. With major reductions in air pollution from factories, power plants, etc. already achieved, California's millions of vehicles still offer plenty of room for improvement.
California's tradition of innovative clean-air programs has led other states to follow suit. In 2002, California became the first state in the US to regulate greenhouse gases from vehicles. Other states are considering similar proposals. The two most active state agencies dealing with vehicle fuel consumption and emissions issues are the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission.
California residents can have a large impact on vehicle issues by studying the various proposals before the legislature and writing or calling their representatives and, if appropriate, the governor, and by submitting public comments on agency proposals.
To locate your California legislators, click here.
We'd like to include news and developments from other states in the future. If you're outside of California and have an interesting development you'd like to let us know about, please contact us.
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