Energy Policy and Conservation Act

Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, U.S. Code. Title 42, secs. 6291-6309. 

In 1975, Congress responded to the oil crisis of 1973 by passing the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. This legislation established Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. By 1985, CAFE standards required that all new passenger cars had to have an... 

The prospect of a patchwork of state standards became a cause of great concern to manufacturers. When President Jimmy Carter was elected, he proposed that mandatoi y standards be set by the Department of Energy (DOE) to replace the voluntary efficiency targets. Wliile opposing mandatory standards at the federal level, manufacturers acquiesced to the National Energy Conservation and Policy Act (NECPA) of 1978, which required DOE to set appliance efficiency standards for residential products. In return, manufacturers were able to obtain a requirement for DOE to evaluate the impacts on manufacturers that standards would impose and to consider them in setting the standards. 

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