The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday in a Federal Register notice it will host a public meeting and open a comment period regarding a potential waiver to allow the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to implement its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulations.
The ACF rule requires all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold or registered in the state to be zero-emission by 2036 and requires all trucks to be zero-emission by 2042.
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EPA said CARB submitted a request in November 2023 seeking a waiver of preemption for the on- and off-road regulations in the ACF rule. The waiver is required because the regulations exceed EPA’s requirements. EPA last year granted CARB a waiver for its Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which requires truck manufacturers to increase new truck sales to 55% (Class 2b-3), 75% (Class 4-8), and 40% of semi-tractor sales to be zero-emissions by 2035.
CARB said in its waiver request that it believes “no basis exists for the Administrator of EPA to find that CARB’s determination is arbitrary and capricious” under the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA administrator grant waivers “if the state determines that the state standards will be, in the aggregate, at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable federal standards.” California is the only state that is qualified to seek and receive a waiver under CAA rules. The EPA is required to grant the waiver unless the administrator finds that:
- The determination of the state is arbitrary and capricious
- The state does not need the state standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions
- The state standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are not consistent with section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act
EPA is requesting public comment on California’s request, specifically on the three waiver criteria listed above. Comments can be filed here through Sept. 16.
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A virtual public hearing will also be held at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Aug. 14. It will end “when all parties who wish to speak have had an opportunity to do so.” Those interested in attending the hearing are asked to register by Aug. 7. Each commenter will have three minutes to provide testimony.
CARB’s ACF rule has been under fire from trucking industry and other groups with a number of legal challenges, including from the California Trucking Association, Western States Trucking Association, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, and a coalition of 17 states and the Nebraska Trucking Association.
