Clean Air Act waivers, the White House and EVs

In the waning days of the Biden administration, action was taken on a number of pending U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Air Act (CAA) waiver requests from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), some of which are of significant interest to NTEA. In response, California also took action on other pending waiver requests. Of most interest is the ACF (Advanced Clean Fleet) regulation, whose waiver request was withdrawn by California after the Biden Administration failed to approve it. CAA waivers allow California to implement emissions regulations stricter than those issued by the EPA. Each rule issued by California that exceeds the EPA regulations must go through a federal comment and deliberation process. Based on this process, the EPA either grants or denies the waiver request. Other states may choose to implement the California regulations, but they may not alter them in any way. To receive an EPA CAA waiver, California must demonstrate that its standards are “at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable Federal standards.” EPA must deny the waiver if it decides California’s rules are arbitrary and capricious. In 1977, Congress allowed other states to “adopt and enforce” California’s standards but not amend the standards. Since 1967, California has sought over 100 preemption waivers from the EPA. The first waiver of concern upon which EPA acted is Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC2). On December 18, 2024, the EPA granted California the ACC2 waiver. This CARB regulation will require an increasing number of new light-duty vehicles sold to be ZEVs, all of them by 2035. The Omnibus (low NOx) waiver request was granted simultaneously. The Omnibus regulation will cut heavy-duty NOx by 90% and extend the warranty for emissions equipment. Numerous states have adopted the California Omnibus regulation, including Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. NTEA is most concerned about the future of the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation. The Biden EPA did not grant this waiver request, and California strategically withdrew it in response. NTEA and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) are challenging this rule in court. Environmental groups and California Governor Gavin Newsom had been pushing the EPA to grant all CAA waiver requests, including the ACF, before Biden left office. To put these last-minute grants in perspective, the ACC2 waiver request comment period closed at EPA in January 2023. The Omnibus rule waiver request comment period ended in August 2022. The ACF waiver comment period only ended in September 2024, providing the EPA little time for consideration. The new administration The incoming Trump administration telegraphed almost immediately that it would examine these waivers closely and likely work to repeal them. During the first Trump administration, previously granted California waivers were revoked. California and a number of other states challenged the repeal. In 2021, the Biden administration repealed the repeal, putting the California regulations back into effect. California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT), Omnibus (low N0x) and ACF regulations are of most significant concern to the work truck industry today. The ACT waiver has been previously granted. The Omnibus rule received its waiver in December, and the ACF waiver request is pending at EPA. As you may recall, the ACF is designed to complement the ACT. The ACT requires OEMs to build zero-emission vehicles, and the ACF forces fleets to buy those EVs. When the first Trump administration revoked previously granted California waivers, it did so through EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rulemaking, which took several months. Regardless of any actions the new Trump administration takes to curtail California’s ZEV regulations, expect additional legal challenges. Opt-in states In addition to industry and indicated Trump administration opposition to these CARB rules, several states that have previously opted into the ACT regulations are now facing the reality of implementation when neither OEMS, fleets, nor infrastructure is ready for commercial EVs. The ACT calls for OEMs to sell increasing percentages of zero-direct-emission trucks through model year 2035. In those states with an effective date of 2025, 7% of new truck sales must be zero-emission trucks beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Eleven states, including California, have adopted the ACT regulations. Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington have an effective date of 2025. Vermont is slated to take effect in 2026, with the other states implementing it in 2027. In December, trucking associations from Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington wrote the governors of those opt-in states asking for a delay in implementation. While supportive of clean air goals and listing the steps already taken to improve air quality in the transportation sector, the trucking groups stated, “The damage that our industry will incur by implementing ACT on its current rushed timeline will curtail these critical efforts as clean diesel truck availability will become limited, keeping older, heavier polluting trucks on the road. It will also lead to the inevitable loss in jobs and businesses. Rather, we encourage your states to look at an alternative approach, similar to the SmartWay program, which is a voluntary program with a proven record of success and widely supported by the industry. We are asking that the ACT date for implementation be deferred in order to ensure that our dealers and trucking companies are not unduly harmed, and to provide for an opportunity to work together to find a solution that works toward our state’s environmental goals.” NTEA sues California In October, NTEA joined with SEMA to sue California and CARB over their ACF regulations. As you may recall, CARB’s ACF regulation includes requirements that, as it is phased-in, only ZEVs may be operated within California’s borders, even if the truck was purchased or registered outside of California. NTEA believes reasonable and technology-neutral regulations are the best way to achieve lower vehicle emissions. By declaring one technology as the government’s preferred solution, California (and the opt-in states) eliminates any other potential solutions, regardless of their promise to deliver the state’s desired results. The lawsuit argues that CARB’s mandates will force fleet operators and vehicle manufacturers to adopt costly zero-emission technologies, leaving internal combustion engines and other alt-fuel vehicles obsolete. NTEA believes that the CARB regulations, as currently adopted, would severely limit the availability of work and emergency trucks in those states subject to the CARB rules. Vehicles produced by NTEA member companies allow users to efficiently carry out their vital missions and support ongoing business operations in critical industries such as public works, utilities and telecommunications, emergency response, construction, food and agriculture, last-mile delivery and many others. As governments look toward a zero-emissions future, it is vital they remember that work trucks must remain available, affordable and capable. Learn more about NTEA’s government advocacy efforts at ntea.com/advocacy.

Clean Air Act waivers, the White House and EVs

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