The Western States Trucking Association (WSTA), one of the oldest independent trucking associations in the United States, filed a petition with California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) last week challenging the validity of the Clean Truck Partnership between California Air Resources Board (CARB) and truck manufacturers.
All four Class 8 North American truck OEMs and Cummins were among the 11 companies that signed the Clean Truck Partnership in 2023. At the time, the commitment was championed as a commitment from the participating companies to meet California’s vehicle standards to require the sale and adoption of zero-emissions technology in the state, regardless of whether any other entity would challenge California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act.
In turn, CARB agreed to work collaboratively with manufacturers to provide reasonable lead time to meet CARB’s requirements and before imposing new regulations and to support the development of necessary ZEV infrastructure.
The partnership has come under fire this spring in the aftermath of Congress using the Congressional Review Act to revoke two waivers granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2024 to CARB for its Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and low-NOx Omnibus regulations and President Donald J. Trump signing the resolutions on June 12.
[RELATED: California doubles down on emissions regulations, starts work on next generation rules]
Organizations within the trucking industry, including WSTA but also the American Trucking Associations (ATA), American Truck Dealers (ATD) and others, have argued the revocation of the CARB waivers eliminates California’s ability to enforce the partnership as CARB no longer has authority from the EPA to enforce the rules.
President Trump also stated in the signing the resolutions that his action would “kill the California mandates forever, and they’re never coming back.”
California authorities feel differently.
CARB Chair Liane Randolph said the revocation of the waivers using the Congressional Review Act was an “unconstitutional, illegal and foolish attempt to undermine California’s clean air protections,” while Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged the state’s intent to fight the resolutions in court.
Additionally, Craig Segall, who as deputy executive officer for CARB helped write California's clean truck rules, recently told TPS sister publication CCJ, “Any truck manufacturers who thought California was off the board were just proven wrong. It’s time for them to finally behave accordingly and bring cheap powerful EV trucks to market at scale.”
But WSTA’s petition makes it clear both sides are willing to adjudicate the issue.
In the petition, WSTA claims the Clean Truck Partnership “is an improperly adopted ‘regulation’ under California's Administrative Procedure Act (APA)” that “applies generally to all manufacturers of internal-combustion powered on-road heavy-duty trucks and engines and requires those companies to follow CARB regulations even when those regulations have no federal authorization.”
The organization adds an OAL determination on the legality of the CTP “is of vital public interest and importance to all Californians, and it is necessary to ensure that stakeholders can publicly participate in the development of rulemaking that impacts heavy-duty truck and engine availability and prices in California.”
In contending the CTP is a regulation rather than just an agreement, WSTA states CARB didn’t follow Administrative Procedure Act procedures in promulgating the CTP, including filing a copy with the Secretary of State of California and providing notice and the opportunity for public comment.
