Katie Elder asked that I forward this to the ba-list - so, here ya go
:-)
-----Original Message-----
From: Elder, Katie [mailto:CElder@rwbeck.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 2:20 PM
To: Kevin McCormickSubject: CA Tire Standard Issue Update
I had been surprised a month or so ago to hear that California was
talking about adopting minimum fuel economy standards for tires and
worried about potential adverse impact on being able to buy autox tires,
especially street tires like the MX or Azenis or whatnot. Here is the
latest I've been able to uncover:
The Energy Commission issued a report last week on how to reduce
petroleum fuel usage in California; the tire fuel economy standard for
replacement tires remains on the list of policy options they are
evaluating. The full report is at
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005publications/CEC-600-2005-024/CEC-600-2005-
024-AD.PDF; pages 24-25 have the tire discussion, some of which I have
excerpted below. If you just open the report and toggle a page or two
down to the Table of Contents you'll get a sense of the range of options
under review.
Option 1B is Fuel Efficient Replacement Tires
The Tire Study is supposed to determine a standard rolling resistance
test; identify the range of rolling resistance levels available in the
existing replacement tire market; explore the relationship between low
rolling resistance, sidewall strength, tire performance, tire life, tire
cost, wet traction, and tire-stopping distance; and determine the
feasibility of imposing a fuel economy standard. The study data should
be collected by late this year; the final report is due in September
2006.
The last paragraph is the "best" (I did laugh out loud when I read it):
If I were truly clever I could find out how much the CEC has budgeted to
fund this study and who they've hired to do it.
H.R. 6, the House Energy Bill contains provisions discouraging states
(such as California) from adopting boutique fuel mixtures, which reduce
refinery efficiency by requiring unique formulations and reduce the
interchangability of gasoline, thus creating unnecessary regional price
differentials. It is late in the game, but the Rubber Manufacturer's
Association might want to approach its favorite senator about an
amendment to the Senate version that would discourage state fuel economy
standards for tires. The last thing that would be helpful would be
49-state tires and CA tires. Argh!
Katie
Catherine M. Elder
Practice Leader, Natural Gas & Fuels
R.W. Beck, Inc.
2710 Gateway Oaks Drive #300S
Sacramento, CA 95833
916 614 8243
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