Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, March 21, 2023:
The Biden administration is set to approve new rules in California designed to cut emissions and phase out sales of heavy-duty diesel trucks, according to a report from The Washington Post on Monday.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to The Post -- citing three anonymous sources briefed on the administration's plans -- intends to grant waivers enabling California to enforce further environmental regulations tougher than federal requirements and regulations.
American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear released a statement Monday evening expressing disappointment, noting that the trucking industry "worked tirelessly with EPA on aggressive, achievable timelines for emissions reductions over decades," he said. “Our industry hopes these reports aren’t true."
EPA in December updated emission standards for heavy-duty commercial vehicles for the 2027 model year, tightening tailpipe NOx limits to a level 80%-plus below the current standard and reducing the particulate matter limit by 50%. The agency also will require that OEMs extend warranties to 450,000 miles from 100,000 and useful life limits to 650,000 miles from 435,000 miles.
The new EPA standards require heavy-duty commercial vehicles to limit nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions to 0.035 grams per horsepower-hour during normal operation, 0.05 grams at low load, and 10 grams at idle, and will also increase the useful life of governed vehicles by 1.5 to 2.5 times and yield emissions warranties that are 2.8 to 4.5 times longer -- provisions that guarantee that as vehicles age, they will continue to meet EPA’s more stringent emissions standards for a longer period of time.
California has also set truck OEMs on a path that reinvents truck sales in the state, mandating all heavy trucks sold there be either electric or hydrogen fuel-cell by 2045. If California-specific regulations indeed enact more strict emissions limits, it sets up an event horizon for trucking companies that do business in and through the state, as California seeks to start its even tighter emissions limits three model years sooner than EPA.
