California ditches ‘unachievable’ scheme to mandate green trucks

California regulators withdrew a proposal to mandate the sale of zero-emissions trucks over the next 20 years on Tuesday evening.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) pulled back its request to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver that would have allowed the state to require massive increases in sales of electric or zero-emissions truck models over the coming decades. As of 2023, only 0.3% of all registered heavy-duty vehicles in the U.S. were zero-emissions models, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation.

CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule would have mandated California’s truck fleet to move to zero-emission models starting in 2024, ending with the fleet going 100% zero-emissions between 2035 and 2042, according to Commercial Carrier Journal. The proposed regulations would have also required 100% of all new heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state to be zero-emissions models by 2036 if implemented.

“While we are disappointed that U.S. EPA was unable to act on all the requests in time, the withdrawal is an important step given the uncertainty presented by the incoming administration that previously attacked California’s programs to protect public health and the climate and has said will continue to oppose those programs,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph told Commercial Carrier Journal.

Notably, the EPA granted California its requested Clean Air Act waiver to force 100% of new light-duty auto sales in the state to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2035 in December 2024. Other states have opted-in to adopting those California electric vehicle rules, meaning that state regulators and the EPA are effectively pushing the entire country’s auto market toward electric vehicles in implementing the rule.

“The trucking industry and American consumers can breathe a collective sigh of relief today after CARB finally bowed to reality and shelved its job-killing Advanced Clean Fleets regulation,” American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear told Commercial Carrier Journal. “This unachievable mandate would have raised costs and caused disruption throughout our supply chain without delivering the promised environmental benefits.”

CARB did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

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