Regulators at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have agreed to repeal the Advanced Clean Fleets rules, which were crafted to mandate electric trucks far beyond California’s borders, the Nebraska Trucking Association.
The settlement is the result of a lawsuit led by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and the Nebraska Trucking Association (NTA) and joined by 16 other states.
Among other things, the Advanced Clean Fleets program would have required certain trucking companies to retire internal-combustion trucks and transition to more expensive, less efficient electric trucks. The rule targeted any fleet that operated in California regardless of where the fleet is headquartered. Given California’s large population and access to international ports, this rule would have had nationwide effects on the supply chain.
In court documents filed Friday, May 2, CARB agreed that while the repeal is in process, it will not enforce any of the existing rules.
CARB conceded that they cannot enforce California’s 2036 ban on the sale of internal-combustion trucks unless and until the ban receives a Clean Air Act preemption waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Regulators had previously stated they believed no waiver was necessary, even though they applied for one, only to subsequently withdraw it with the changeover to the Trump administration, the trucking association said.
NTA President and CEO Kent Grisham said the settlement is momentous.
“The NTA’s leadership unanimously voted to pursue this course of action with Attorney General Hilgers, and we couldn’t be more pleased with this outcome. We are not withdrawing our lawsuit. We are only putting it into abeyance until CARB follows through on its promise to repeal ACF altogether.”
Grisham said “the fact that they have admitted that an EPA waiver is necessary sends a signal to any other state wanting to create a patchwork of regulations around the country that when it comes to interstate commerce, a unified national approach is the only way to keep the supply chains running.”
In addition to Hilgers and the NTA, attorneys general from the following states joined the lawsuit: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Also, the Arizona State Legislature joined the lawsuit, the Nebraska Trucking Association said.
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Pretty sure it was the Trump EPA saying they weren’t going to give a waiver for California to vary from the EPA standards that forced CARB to kill their idiotic rule, not Hilger’s lawsuit. But, if he wants to toot his horn and take a victory lap on his way to the governor’s mansion in a few years then whatever.
My bigger issue is the 11 or 12 other states that were going to voluntarily and automatically adopt and follow California’s uber strict regulations. Scary stuff when California has that much sway over 25% of the country.