Proposed rules that would require truck vendors in New Jersey to dramatically increase sales of medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks by 2035 faced vigorous criticism Wednesday, with opponents arguing they would do little to cut emissions because too few electric truck models are currently available and demand for them is low.

Statewide business groups and a national trade association for truck engine manufacturers were among the speakers at a three-hour public hearing on the rules proposed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). A key request was that the agency should slow its adoption of the rules so a more thorough assessment of their impacts could be undertaken.

Modeled on California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, the DEP rules mandate that manufacturers meet an escalating series of electric truck sales targets, starting in 2025. Specifically, manufacturers would be required to increase their sales of zero- or near-zero emissions vehicles through 2035, reaching 55% of class 2b and 3 truck sales by 2035, 75% of Class 4 to 8 trucks and 40% of truck tractor sales.

The vendors would also have to comply with a system of credits and deficits based on the proportion of electric trucks manufacturers have to sell in the state, compared to the number of diesel vehicles.

Speakers opposed to the rules said the sales targets are too high, compliance would be too expensive for many businesses and the focus on EV trucks is too narrow and should include trucks that use low-carbon fuels such as renewable natural gas.

Hunter Griffin, policy analyst for New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA), said he did not expect the proposal to reduce emissions. He encouraged the DEP to extend the 60-day comment period, which ends June 18, by an additional 60 days, in part, to see “how well a California-based regulation applies to the conditions in New Jersey.”

“Technology does not currently exist at scale to allow for the conversion of our trucking fleets across all size categories in the timeframes required,” he said. “And more importantly, there are better options to achieve the emission reduction goals required.”

Heavy Truck Pollution

Yet dissenting voices accounted for only a small proportion of the nearly 40 speakers in the three-hour hearing. Many speakers — among them more than a dozen representatives of environmental groups — praised the DEP for taking a bold, and necessary, step to help mitigate climate change.

“This is exactly where we need to be going,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “It’s critical that these rules are adopted as quickly as possible.”

O’Malley said that child asthma and cancer rates are higher in New Jersey cities than other parts of the state. “A big reason is because of dirty diesel trucks that are on our roads, especially in our cities, and diesel-powered vehicles are 10 times dirtier than gas powered vehicles,” he said.

Alli Gold Roberts, director of the state policy program for Ceres, a non-profit organization that advocates for corporate sustainability, said the rules are the “first of many steps” that the state needs to take to reduce emissions, and help the economy.

“The (rules) will drive local innovation and investment in clean technology development and manufacturing, creating new jobs, driving long-term cost savings and company value chains,” she said. Increased access to “cost effective, zero emission commercial transportation options helps businesses stay competitive.”

Kim Gaddy, the national environmental justice director for Clean Water Action, said that as a mother of three asthmatic children and a resident of Newark, home to a large chunk of the Port of New York and New Jersey, she had no doubt that the rules would help reduce emissions in her neighborhood.

“We suffer from 4500 trucks that travel on our local roads,” she said. “We are positive that the (rules) will work to establish zero-emission zones and zero-emission long haul trucks that we need today.”

The proposed rules are designed to help move New Jersey toward Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050. Transportation accounts for 42% of carbon emissions in the state, and emissions from heavy trucks are a big contributor. The state’s master plan, released in 2019, assumes that 75% of medium-duty trucks and 50% of heavy-duty trucks will be electric by 2050.

The DEP estimates that the rules will reduce carbon emissions by 2.6 million metric tons from 2024 to 2040. So far, few electric trucks are on the road in New Jersey, especially the largest models. Truckers and their trade associations say that electric trucks are still too expensive — two to three times the cost of a diesel truck — and the 250-mile maximum distance they can cover on a single charge is too short for many uses.

Truckers also say there is a very limited number of electric truck models on the market, and a similarly low number of heavy-duty charging points around the state to support the vehicles’ use. (See NJ Looks to Boost Heavy-duty Charge Points.)

However, recent studies have suggested that the lower repair, fuel and maintenance costs of an electric vehicle, mean that in the longer term they can be more cost effective.

Demand for EV Trucks

The proposed rules would apply to the manufacturers of all vehicles larger than 8,500 pounds who sell more than 500 vehicles in New Jersey annually. (See NJ Outlines Plan to Boost EV Truck Sales.)

Under the rules, manufacturers would accrue “deficits” based on their sales in New Jersey of trucks that are neither zero-emissions or near-zero emissions vehicles. The deficits are calculated based on factors including the model year, the weight class group and whether a vehicle is considered a tractor.

Echoing Griffin, Timothy A. French, of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA), urged the DEP to hold off adopting the rules for a year, until the full impact of the rules can be assessed, and it becomes clear whether President Biden’s administration will create a federal program to boost the uptake of electric rucks.

“New Jersey should be a leader in advocating for those federal programs,” French said. “Without them there’s a significant risk that New Jersey fleets will simply keep their older, higher emitting products longer,” or they will buy non-electric vehicles out of state, adversely impacting the New Jersey economy and environment.

He said that under the DEP proposal “there is no obligation on any fleet operator to buy the higher priced products that EMA members would be obligated to sell.” And he added that to achieve a sales increase, the state needs a stronger network of charging infrastructure, and an incentive program that will help offset the upfront cost of electric trucks.

Brett Barry, senior policy advisor for Clean Energy, a provider of natural gas motor fuels, was also skeptical that the rules would yield a dramatic increase in sales, saying that “you cannot simply increase demand by placing a mandate on the supply side of the market.”

“A sales mandate without a fleet adoption mandate ignores basic market principles,” he said, noting that the adoption of EVs of all types is still slow. He proposed a change in the rules, which he called a “safety net,” to allow the purchase of non-electric vehicles that use low-carbon fuels “if dedicated electric vehicle compliance is not feasible.”

The low-carbon option would enable the uptake of electric trucks in the state to grow “without foregoing emissions reductions in the near term, should EV technology in the heavy-duty sector not advance as quickly as some expect,” he said.

Barry added that Amazon has said it will be using renewable natural gas (RNG) trucks to reduce emissions, as has the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York.

High Price Tag

Elvin Montero, director of communications for the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, said that while his members — including more than 60 manufacturers — support the goal of reducing carbon emission, the penalty for doing so under the proposed rule would be too high.

“Many of the companies we represent continuously spend capital modernizing their fleet of vehicles,” he said. “Many even have an electric truck or electric vehicles among their fleet.”

The fleets are already expensive due to the additional safety compliance rules they face and are “quite efficient,” he said. “The challenge comes when a regulation forces a business to abandon these efficient trucks for electric versions that can add up to $30,000 to the cost of just one new truck without any meaningful contribution to the reduction of emissions.”

Ben Mandel, northeast regional director for CALSTART, a nonprofit organization that works with businesses and governments to develop clean, efficient transportation solutions, welcomed the rules, but suggested the state could help reach the EV truck sales targets with a voucher system to provide financial incentives to support the purchase of electric trucks. That could be similar to the state’s Zero Emission Incentive program (NJ ZIP), which awards incentives of up to $100,000 for the purchase of medium-sized electric trucks, he said. The program would also benefit if the state enacted a “truck fleet purchase requirement,” to mandate the purchase of electric vehicles, he said.

“We feel that regulatory requirements,” such as the sales target rules, “send a decisive market signal that calibrates investment priorities for manufacturers, fleets and financiers alike,” he said.