Section 5-108. Purchase of passenger automobiles

a. The commissioner, in
  consultation with the commissioner of the office  of  general  services,
  shall  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  which  shall  require,  at a
  minimum, that all passenger automobiles purchased by or for the state or
  any agency or public authority thereof,  of  which  a  majority  of  the
  members  are  appointed  by  the  governor,  in  any  fiscal  year which
  commences on or after April first, nineteen hundred eighty-one,  achieve
  an  average  fuel  economy  not  less  than  the applicable average fuel
  economy standard established pursuant to the provisions of this  section
  for the model year which includes January first of such fiscal year.
    b.  The  commissioner,  in  consultation  with  the  office of general
  services, shall be further authorized to establish minimum fuel  economy
  standards   for   different   classes   of   passenger  automobiles,  as
  appropriate, which shall be applicable to such vehicles purchased by  or
  for  the  state or any agency or public authority thereof subject to the
  requirements of subdivision a of this section.
    c. As used in this section:
    (1) The term "passenger automobile" means  any  four  wheeled  vehicle
  propelled by fuel which is manufactured for use on public streets, roads
  and highways, which is rated at six thousand pounds gross vehicle weight
  or  less,  and which the commissioner determines by rule is manufactured
  primarily  for  use  in  the  transportation  of  not  more   than   ten
  individuals.
    (2) The term "passenger automobile" shall not include police, fire, or
  other  emergency  vehicles,  as  defined  by  the  commissioner, or snow
  removal, salt-spreader, and garbage disposal vehicles, or  any  vehicles
  which  the  commissioner  determines,  by regulation, should be excluded
  from being defined as "passenger vehicles".
    (3) The  term  "average  fuel  economy"  means  the  total  number  of
  passenger  automobiles  acquired  in a fiscal year to which this section
  applies divided by a sum of terms, each term  of  which  is  a  fraction
  created  by dividing (i) the number of passenger automobiles so acquired
  of a given model type, by (ii) the rated fuel economy of such model type
  as determined and published by the federal agency with jurisdiction over
  the determination and publication of such fuel  economy  ratings  during
  that fiscal year.
    (4)  The  term "average fuel economy standard" means the average miles
  per gallon to be achieved in  the  operation  of  passenger  automobiles
  manufactured in a particular model year and shall be as follows:
 
  Model year                                         Fuel economy standard
                                                       (miles per gallon)
     1981 ................................................... 22.0
     1982 ................................................... 24.0
     1983 ................................................... 26.0
     1984 ................................................... 27.0
     1985 ................................................... 27.5
     1991 and thereafter .................................... 29.0