The Biden administration will approve new California rules to cut tailpipe pollution and phase out sales of diesel-burning trucks, according to three people briefed on the plans, a move that could jump-start the nation’s transition to electric-powered trucks and help communities harmed by diesel pollution.
The new policies could have a profound effect on the air Californians breathe. Heavy-duty trucks account for nearly a third of the state’s smog-forming nitrogen oxide and more than a quarter of its fine particle pollution from diesel fuel. Both of these harmful pollutants are linked to asthma, other respiratory illnesses and premature death. Environmental advocates on behalf of Black and Latino Californians, who are more likely to live near ports, huge warehouse complexes and major highways, have long pleaded with the state’s regulators to strengthen pollution limits on the trucks whose fumes waft through their neighborhoods. Climate activists have echoed these demands.
The rules could also have national significance. Six other states, which together with California represent about 20 percent of the nation’s heavy-duty vehicle sales, have already committed to follow California’s tougher standards. But because of the way the Clean Air Act works, California and those other states cannot put their plans into action until the EPA grants the state a waiver.
“This is a critical market signal,” said Matt Petersen, who heads the nonprofit Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and leads a regional project to slash the greenhouse gas emissions from shipping and logistics operations in Southern California. “Goods movement is a huge part of our economy here … yet it’s the single largest source of air pollution between the trucks and trains and ships,” he said. “Now we need to get the charging infrastructure in place, we need to get the trucks on the road, and we need to get the domestic supply chain in place.”
California’s new policies include stricter pollution limits for heavy-duty vehicles — such as delivery vans, garbage trucks and 18-wheelers — that require them to cut emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. These rules would apply to vehicles beginning with the 2024 model year, three years ahead of the administration’s latest regulations, which start with the model year 2027.
Another rule sets new sales requirements for truck makers. Beginning next year, manufacturers will have to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission trucks, buses and vans annually, eventually reaching a target of selling all-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell trucks by 2045. State officials estimate the rule would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 307 million metric tons by 2050.
This is a slower transition than the state has set for passenger cars and trucks, which have to switch to sales of nonpolluting models by 2035, in recognition of how much further behind the electric truck industry is. According to the California Air Resources Board, the state’s top air regulator, there are about 135 models of electric heavy trucks and buses being built and delivered to American customers. But major truck manufacturers such as Volvo and Daimler Truck have set goals for their electric transitions that are more than a decade from now, and the industry’s lobbyists have worked to delay that clean-truck future.
A third waiver request extends the warranty period of trucks’ emissions controls, requiring manufacturers to make sure their equipment is working and reducing the amount of pollution these vehicles spew into the air over their lifetimes.
New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Massachusetts, Washington and Vermont have agreed to adopt the sales mandate for zero-emission trucks. All except New Jersey have also committed to following California’s more stringent tailpipe pollution standards.
Environmental activists disappointed with the EPA’s truck pollution rule, which the agency finalized late last year, have pressured the administration to come out with stricter standards when it proposes greenhouse gas limits for heavy-duty trucks.
About 40 members of the Moving Forward Network, a collection of environmental justice groups, met with EPA administrator Michael Regan and other agency staff in Washington last week to demand tougher pollution limits for heavy trucks, and those that load and unload at the nation’s ports. They left with a promise from agency officials to meet with the group regularly.
“We communicated to the EPA that we need significant rule changes and stronger enforcement of the existing policies. Their current rules are falling short,” said Bruce Strouble, an activist from Tallahassee, who is a Moving Forward Network board member.
Strouble said Regan talked with the group for about an hour, during which the administrator said it would likely take the agency most of this year to write its proposal for new greenhouse gas limits on heavy trucks. Strouble said Regan attributed some of the delay — the rules were supposed to come out this spring — to “litigation concerns” and agency staff’s desire to ensure the proposal can survive court challenges.
The EPA’s expected approval of California’s waivers does not mean the state has won its fight against polluting trucks. Some of the nation’s largest truck manufacturers and their lobbying groups are expected to sue to stop the policies from taking effect. They have previously challenged the state’s waiver requests, arguing they did not give manufacturers enough lead time.
The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, which represents the nation’s largest truck manufacturers, has warned that tougher rules would increase the cost of trucks, pushing buyers to delay making new purchases and leaving older, dirtier vehicles on the road for years. The group has also tried to discourage other states from adopting California’s sales mandate, claiming it will hurt their economies and the environment.
The group represents about 30 truck and bus manufacturers, including major players such as Daimler Truck, Volvo, Paccar, Navistar and Cummins, a maker of diesel engines.
Nor is it clear when the administration will issue its formal approval.
People familiar with the EPA’s plans said the agency intended to make the announcement earlier this month, but delayed it because of last-minute complications. Officials with the California Air Resources Board said they had asked the EPA for more time while their staff reviewed a potential issue with the tailpipe pollution rule. Neither EPA nor CARB staff would say when they expected the waivers would be approved.
“EPA is working to issue its decisions on the waivers before us as expeditiously as possible,” an agency spokesperson said in an email.
