Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, May 31, 2022:
The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) on Friday sued the state of California alleging the state's California Air Resources Board (CARB) did not provide the OEMs enough lead time to meet stricter new emissions goals on new truck and engine builds.
The group, in a letter announcing the suit, wrote that on Dec. 22, 2021, "CARB adopted the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus Regulation, a package of stringent emission standards, test procedures, and other emission-related requirements applicable to new heavy-duty on-highway engines and vehicles sold in California" requiring compliance by the start of 2024, leaving only two model years of lead time for manufacturers.
The lawsuit alleges that this violates the federal Clean Air act by not allowing manufacturers the required four full model years of lead time.
“Truck and engine manufacturers are proud that today’s modern engines reduce harmful emissions to near zero levels, and we are committed to building still cleaner products," TEMA President Jed R. Mandel said in the letter. "But CARB must provide manufacturers the minimum four years of lead time mandated by Congress. ... This lawsuit is simply to ensure that CARB follows all of the prescribed rules -- one of which is intended to maximize the likelihood of the smooth and successful implementation of new emission standards."
TEMA's lawsuit comes as other trucking-related groups have petitioned California to delay CARB enforcement of its longstanding Statewide Truck & Bus Rule's final phase at the end of the year, as the pandemic has stymied the production and sales of newer model trucks. As it stands, beginning Jan. 1, 2023, an estimated 76,000 owners who live or operates in California with a pre-2010 emissions-spec engine may lose their ability to operate within the state.
