Where do emission regulations stand?

At this time last year, the future of light-, medium- and heavy-duty truck emissions looked vastly different. A presidential election, swift congressional action, and a slew of lawsuits — including one involving NTEA — have significantly altered the rules and regulations governing an alternatively fueled future.Under the previous Administration and Congress, regulations were put in place to implement a phase-in of electric vehicles (EVs). At the same time, Congress was appropriating significant sums to establish EV fueling infrastructure. Similarly, California was pushing aggressive EV mandates and attempting to get other states to adopt its EV mandate rules.OEMs, upfitters, and fleet purchasers expressed significant concerns about the practicality and timing of these mandates, particularly regarding vocational trucks.When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in 1970, California was already addressing its own smog concerns. Congress had allowed California to request waivers to federal standards, beginning with the Air Quality Act of 1967, followed by the 1970 Clean Air Act (CAA). The EPA approves these CAA waivers that allow California to implement more stringent emissions rules than the rest of the country. California has received numerous such waivers over the years. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the state agency responsible for regulating vehicle emissions.In 2009, the EPA issued an Endangerment Finding stating that motor vehicle emissions contribute to public health concerns, and as such, the Agency would be empowered to regulate motor vehicle emissions. The greenhouse gas regulations, and subsequent EV-related requirements, ultimately stem from this endangerment finding.Concurrently, CARB was very active in implementing phase-in requirements for EV cars and trucks. California was also working to convince other states to adopt the California regulations. The Clean Air Act allows other states to adopt the California-specific regulations, but they must be adopted in identical form to the CARB rules, with no amendments. A number of states began adopting the car and/or truck regulations.With the waivers in place, the CARB emission regulations for trucks were more stringent than the federal (EPA) rules. CARB passed the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rules. The ACT would require OEMs to build and sell increasing percentages of EVs, and the ACF would require specified fleets to buy the EVs.Last year, NTEA joined Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) in suing CARB over the ACF rule. The ACF rule was under consideration for a Clean Air Act waiver, which could allow the regulations to be adopted by any state. Once the outcome of the U.S. presidential elections was known, California withdrew the ACF regulation from consideration for a waiver before the EPA was able to rule on the request. The ACF was still in effect for California. As part of a settlement agreement with NTEA and SEMA, CARB has agreed to repeal the sections of the ACF that were in question.Congress was busy working to unwind some of the EV mandate regulations earlier in the year. First, Congress used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rescind the previously granted CAA waivers for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and Heavy-Duty Engine Omnibus NOx regulations. The CRA actions on the waivers prohibit the reintroduction of any similar regulations in the future without the approval of Congress.At the end of July, the EPA proposed rescinding the Endangerment Finding and the regulations that were promulgated based on it. If finalized, this proposal could remove all greenhouse gas standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles and heavy-duty engines, starting with EPA’s first greenhouse gas rules set in 2010 for light-duty vehicles and those set in 2011 for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and engines.Canada is looking at the North American market and similarly reevaluating its EV mandates.In early September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the government would remove the 2026 Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, which required that 20% of new light-duty vehicles offered for sale in Canada must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) for model year 2026. Ottawa will also initiate a 60-day review of the EV Standard to reduce costs for industry. The cancellation of the 2026 EV sales mandate requirements for light-duty vehicles makes the prospect of a future EV sales mandate for new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold in Canada very unlikely. The change in political and regulatory support for EV sales is creating uncertainty about their future in the vocational truck market. Will we see another turnaround when new leaders are elected in the future?First, there are still numerous lawsuits to be decided – California sued moments after the President signed into law the CRAs rescinding the California CAA waivers. Other states have sued over the effects of California’s actions on their states. NTEA and SEMA’s lawsuit is being held in abeyance until California repeals certain parts of the ACF. Second, California still needs to improve its air quality. It should be expected that they will look toward other emission control regulations that may not require federal approval. Any of these tactics would be more likely to affect those residing or doing business in California. Learn more at ntea.com/advocacy.

Where do emission regulations stand?

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