California News:
Multiple heavy-duty truck manufactures are plaintiffs in a DOJ lawsuit against the State of California and the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
The complaint alleges that stringent emission standards to “effectively ban internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks” are unconstitutional and violate the Clean Air Act:
In defiance of federal law, the State of California is attempting to use its own vehicle and engine emissions standards through a so-called “Clean Truck Partnership” to ban internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks, notwithstanding duly enacted federal statutes specifically providing that those regulatory standards are preempted. The Clean Truck Partnership is California’s attempt to enforce three sets of stringent emissions standards adopted by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”): the Omnibus’ Low NOx (“Omnibus”) rule, the Advanced Clean Trucks (“ACT”) rule, and the Advanced Clean Fleets (“ACF”) rule. Individually or collectively, these emission standards effectively impose a nationwide ban on internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks by 2036.
California’s defiance of federal constitutional and statutory law must stop: CARB’s ongoing enforcement of preempted California emissions standards grossly intrudes on the exclusive authority of the federal government to regulate motor vehicle and engine emissions under the Clean Air Act, according to national uniform standards. And it harms ordinary citizens from coast to coast by blocking the sale of fossil-fuel powered heavy-duty trucks, which are the lifeblood of our interstate commerce, as they transport a vast amount of goods and materials every day that keep businesses operating, consumers stocked, and prices low.
The decision whether to ban internal-combustion engines in heavy-duty trucks rests ultimately with the federal government.
In June, President Donald Trump and Congress, in joint resolutions, rescinded California’s waivers for preemption under section 209 of the Clean Air Act, including one that would phase-out gasoline-powered cars over the next decade. The waivers were granted to California by the EPA under the Biden administration and allowed the state and CARB to impose stringent engine emissions on heavy-duty trucks and cars through an electric vehicle mandate that could be adopted by or imposed on other states.
“These actions advance President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to end the electric vehicle mandate, level the regulatory playing field, and promote consumer choice in motor vehicles,” the DOJ said in a statement.
The “so-called” Clean Truck Partnership is an agreement between CARB, the nation’s leading truck manufacturers, and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association that advances the development of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) for the commercial trucking industry. According to CARB, the partnership “marks a commitment from the companies to meet California’s vehicle standards that will require the sale and adoption of zero-emissions technology in the state, regardless of whether any other entity challenges California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act.”
In the complaint, the DOJ contends that the Clean Truck Partnership was created to insulate CARB from judicial and congressional review and “imposes a series of conditions restricting manufacturers’ ability to petition the federal government.”
Despite numerous warnings, the DOJ notes, “CARB continues to threaten truck manufacturers who refuse to comply with its preempted regulations with severe civil sanctions and hostile regulatory treatment.”
For background, using his emergency authority during the 2020 pandemic, Governor Newsom issued an executive order requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035 and “additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector.” Prior to his executive order, California was aiming to eliminate internal combustion engine autos by 2050.
The DOJ’s complaint charges that Newsom’s pandemic-era executive order further weaponized CARB, noting, “CARB responded with an assault on heavy-duty trucks with internal-combustion engines—the backbone of the ground shipping in the United States.”
In 2023, CARB mandated and Governor Gavin Newsom approved the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule (ACF)— a series of regulations on heavy duty trucks and busses in order to achieve a zero-emission fleet by 2045.
At the time, Newsom stated,“The future happens here first, and California is once again showing the world what real climate action looks like. Last year, our state approved one of the world’s first regulations requiring all new car sales to be zero emissions. Now, with these actions requiring all new heavy-duty truck sales to be zero emission and tackling train pollution in our state, we’re one step closer to achieving healthier neighborhoods and cleaner air for all Californians.”
The press release and complaint can be found here.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Megan Barth
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://californiaglobe.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
