Oregon should move swiftly to adopt California’s stringent emissions rules for trucks to protect both the health of its residents and economy, testifiers at a public hearing hosted by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said Thursday.
Oregon last year joined 14 other states and D.C. in signing the Multi-State Zero Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle memorandum of understanding, which pledged participants to have all trucks sold in those jurisdictions be zero-emission by 2050.
To help meet that goal, the DEQ is proposing the state assume California’s standards for greenhouse gas emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, categories that span large pick-ups and delivery vans (Class 2b-3); “rigid” trucks such as buses, dump trucks and other non-tractor trucks (Class 4-8); and tractor trailers.
As in California, the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule would set a 2035 target for having zero-emission vehicles constitute 75% of Oregon’s Class 4-8 sales, 55% of Class 2b-3 sales and 40% of tractor trailer sales. The rule would take effect starting with model year 2025.
The DEQ has also proposed the state adopt the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Heavy-Duty Low NOx Omnibus Rule, which would steadily reduce NOx and particulate emissions from internal combustion truck engines through 2035. Adoption of the ACT would also significantly reduce those pollutants.
The agency is additionally seeking to update its low-emission vehicle rules to ensure they align with California’s current light-duty vehicle standards.
Oregon statute permits the DEQ to propose the changes, but approval comes down to a vote by the five-member, governor-appointed Environmental Quality Council.
‘We Have the Technology’
Most speakers at Thursday’s hearing promoted approval — even by the end of this year, if possible.
Carrie Nyssen, senior director for advocacy for the American Lung Association in Oregon, encouraged state officials to consider the local health benefits of adopting the stricter standards.
“One of my favorite friends and physicians says the only thing we should ever put into our lungs is clean, fresh air,” she said. “Breathing bad air harms our health, the health of our loved ones and our communities. And children are especially vulnerable to these pollutants.”
Nyssen pointed to the increased risk of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, asthma and premature death associated with breathing particulates, especially PM2.5, which can enter the lungs and remain in the bloodstream.
The Lung Association’s 2021 State of the Air report found “that far too many of us are living in communities impacted by unhealthy levels of ozone pollution,” she said. “Adopting the Advanced Clean Truck and low NOx omnibus standards is a step in the right direction for improving our lung health and creating a healthier Oregon.”
Sierra Club Oregon Chapter representative Terry Harris took up a similar theme but added an environmental justice angle. Harris recounted that in his time as a lawyer working on environmental issues in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins researchers found that the high cancer rates and health issues in one neighborhood located near a chemical plant were more attributable to the emissions from the trucks traveling to and from the plant than to the pollution from the facility itself.
“The clean truck rule — and the associated NOx rule — is probably the biggest environmental justice regulation that we’ll be able to deploy that will have the biggest impact to local communities in environmental justice and frontline communities,” Harris said.
Brad Reed, campaign manager for Renew Oregon, pointed out that “Black people are exposed to a staggering 54% more air pollution than the average American,” according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
“We have the technology to protect Oregonians living near busy roads, highways and warehouses from this deadly pollution. Zero-emission trucks are affordable, scalable and available,” he said.
Leah Missik, the Washington state transportation policy manager for Climate Solutions, plugged the show of regional unity in adopting the rules, noting that Oregon’s northern neighbor plans to adopt the California regulations by the end of the year. (See Washington Moving to Adopt Calif. Vehicle Emission Rules.)
“I wanted to briefly express how beneficial it would be for Oregon to do the same, creating a clean trucks West Coast,” Missik said, pointed to the existing connections among the economies, transportation corridors and air sheds of the three West Coast states.
“Our states working together and all having the clean trucks rules in place will not only have tremendous benefits for the climate and for our health, but it will make the rule more cost-effective by expanding demand for these clean trucks,” she said.
Noah Howe, manager of transportation at Ceres, said his sustainability nonprofit organizes the Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy network, a coalition of about 70 companies advocating for strong climate policies at the federal and state levels. Ceres also runs the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, a collaboration of 24 companies — including Amazon, DHL and IKEA — working to decarbonize their truck fleets.
“Our companies’ investors see climate change as a significant risk and reducing greenhouse gases as an economic opportunity. We strongly support Oregon adopting the Advanced Clean Trucks rule and see this as the first of many steps Oregon should take to reduce transportation emissions,” Howe said.
He said the rule “will drive local innovation and investment in clean technology development and manufacturing,” create jobs, generate long-term savings and company value chains, mitigate climate risk, improve public health and reduce health care costs.
Howe said Ceres’ electric vehicle coalition is growing and that companies are transitioning to EVs because they have lower lifetime costs. “We need strong policies to coordinate industry leaders and stakeholders to increase access to zero-emission vehicles, unlock cost savings and benefits, and drive market transformation at a pace and scale the private sector cannot achieve on its own.”
Contrary View
Tim French, general counsel with the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, said the group’s members “fully support a conversion of the commercial trucking fleet to ZEVs and agree that 2045 is a reasonable target date for the broad deployment of ZEV trucks wherever feasible.”
However, French said, Oregon officials should take two “critical steps” to transition those fleets to ZEVs.
The first is to build the charging infrastructure needed to support “widespread deployment” of the new trucks.
“Oregon can and must be a leader in those broad-based efforts, which for trucks will involve longer planning and installation timelines, and significantly larger public investments than for passenger cars,” he said.
The second step: to provide companies with “sustained” financial incentives to offset the higher cost of purchasing ZEV trucks. French suggested that Oregon could “set an example” by requiring state-funded commercial vehicle acquisitions to include a portion of zero-emission and near-zero-emission trucks.
But during Thursday’s meeting, French was the lone voice asking the DEQ to defer adoption of the California truck standards. He advised the agency to wait until more details emerge about President Biden’s “Clean Trucks Plan,” announced in August alongside his administration’s other ZEV goals. (See Biden Executive Order Sets 50% EV Goal by 2030.)
Instead of signing onto California’s standards, which are still in flux with CARB moving to update them next year to include a full ZEV standard, French urged Oregon to take a lead role in advocating for a federal clean truck standard.
“Without that coordinated push for federal standards, there’s a significant risk that trucking fleets in Oregon will simply keep their older, higher-emitting products longer, or we’ll buy out of state,” he said. “The adverse impacts on Oregon’s economy and environment could be significant.”
Besides, French contended, deferring action on the ACT for a year would not jeopardize the proposed 2025 implementation of the rules.
“It is far from legally certain that Oregon can adopt these rules at a later date without a delay in implementation,” Renew Oregon’s Reed countered. “It is a huge risk to suggest this, and one we cannot afford.”
“We know that federal action doesn’t always come as fast as we would like it to, especially in recent history,” said Tim Miller, director of Oregon Business for Climate. “We can’t wait. … This is a crisis.”
City of Corvallis resident Debra Higbee-Sudyka echoed the view of other testifiers when she said the DEQ should adopt the California rules this year.
“We need to take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gases. The future is uncertain for my children and grandchildren — so we need to act now,” she said.
The public has until Sept. 24 to comment on the DEQ’s proposed rule changes.
