Good news is reportedly on the way to the California Air Resources Board regarding federal approval for its Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, which will require manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks each year.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that the EPA has decided to grant waivers to CARB for Advanced Clean Trucks and two other regulations. The Post cited three unnamed sources who had been briefed on the plans.
As of Monday, EPA hadn’t made a formal announcement on the waivers.
CARB needs the EPA waivers because vehicle emission standards in the three regulations differ from federal standards. Under the federal Clean Air Act, a waiver may be issued if California’s standards are at least as stringent as federal standards. The state must receive the EPA waiver before it may enforce the rule.
The zero-emission sales requirements of Advanced Clean Trucks, which apply to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state, are scheduled to take effect in 2024.
The waiver decision also has implications for other states that have adopted California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule. Those include Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont.
An EPA spokesperson didn’t answer a question from NetZero Insider on Monday regarding whether the agency had decided to approve the waivers. She also didn’t specify when a decision would be made.
“EPA is working to issue its decisions on the waivers before us as expeditiously as possible,” the spokesperson said in an email.
A CARB spokesperson on Monday referred questions to the EPA, saying that CARB is “not aware of anything new on this.”
Monday’s news follows a report last year saying that EPA was considering a partial denial of the waiver for Advanced Clean Trucks that would impact the regulation’s first few years. That news report also cited an unnamed source. (See CARB Awaits EPA Decision on Advanced Clean Trucks Rule.)
EPA told NetZero Insider at the time that it was just getting started on the process for reviewing the waiver requests. EPA published an initial notice regarding the waivers in June, followed by a public hearing later that month. The deadline for written public comment was Aug. 2.
The Post reported that approval of the waivers was planned for earlier this month but was delayed because of “last-minute complications.”
The zero-emission sales requirements in Advanced Clean Trucks are based on vehicle classification. For Class 2b and 3 trucks, such as step vans and city delivery trucks, the rule requires 5% ZEV sales in 2024, increasing to 55% in 2035. ZEV sales requirements for Class 7 and 8 tractors range from 5% in 2024 to 40% in 2035.
In addition to Advanced Clean Trucks, CARB is awaiting an EPA waiver for the Heavy-Duty Low NOx Omnibus Regulation, which aims to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides from trucks. A waiver is also pending for an amended emission warranty regulation that extends emissions warranty periods for heavy-duty diesel trucks in model years 2022 and later.
The waiver discussion comes as CARB is poised to approve another zero-emission truck regulation, Advanced Clean Fleets. The regulation would cover three types of fleets: drayage, state and local, and fleets deemed high priority. The regulation would require some or all new trucks added to the fleets to be zero-emission starting in January 2024. (See CARB Examining Obstacles on Road to ZEV Fleet Adoption.)
The regulation may go to the CARB board for final approval as soon as next month.