Here’s what you need to know
- North America’s big four truck makers filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the validity of the Clean Truck Partnership.
- The lawsuit cities the federal revocation of EPA waivers granted to California for its Advanced Clean Trucks and low NOx Omnibus rules preempt their validity.
- The OEMs state immediate regulatory certainty is necessary so OEMs can engage in “meaningful product planning” and meet customer demand.
Could the Clean Truck Partnership be nearing an end?
Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, Paccar and Volvo Trucks North America formally filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to invalidate the Clean Truck Partnership they signed with California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2023.
Since its introduction, CARB has positioned the Clean Truck Partnership as a commitment OEMs made to the California and its regulatory body to abide by its emissions regulations. But with President Donald J. Trump’s June action to revoke to the waivers granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to CARB to set its own regulations, OEMs state they are no longer under the obligation to remain beholden to the 2023 handshake deal.
“California seeks to use the Clean Truck Partnership, which was intended to harmonize compliance with state and federal law, to compel an entire industry to follow California emissions standards that are now in conflict with federal law, and which have been expressly preempted by federal law,” the lawsuit states.
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The lawsuit notes many of what manufacturers state are problems with the Clean Truck Partnership due to changes in the trucking industry and regulatory landscape since its creation.
The partnership was devised to harmonize California regulation with aforementioned federal action, particularly in regard to three CARB regulations — Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF), Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and its low NOx Omnibus rule. But the ACT rule was never implemented; President Joe Biden’s EPA never approved a waiver for the rule and CARB rescinded its request in January, while the ACT and Omnibus waivers were revoked in June.
CARB also announced earlier this month changes to its ACT rule, which the OEMs state both neglected CARB’s own commitment to collaboration with OEMs within the Clean Truck Partnership rule, and should be prohibited due to the federal action removing the waiver for the rule to exist.
CARB’s ACT and Omnibus rules were in place in four states (California, Washington, New York and New Jersey) when Trump revoked the waivers for the rules in June, but as many as 11 states had previously pledged to implement the rules in coming years.
The lawsuit states CARB “amended Advanced Clean Trucks without engaging with the industry in the manner contemplated by Clean Truck Partnership or addressing the industry’s objections and concerns filed during the comment process. CARB has also refused to work with the manufacturers to resolve issues related to infrastructure and customer demand that undermine the viability of Advanced Clean Trucks.”
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The lawsuit also addresses the impracticality of expecting manufacturers to support the ACT rule without the complementary ACF buy-side legislation, “thereby making manufacturer compliance with Advanced Clean Trucks even more challenging.”
CARB has vowed to fight the rescinding of its regulatory authority. In the wake of June’s news, Gov. Gavin Newsom instructed CARB regulators to begin work on new rules to meet state and federal law and enable the state to continue moving forward with its regulatory agenda.
How the state will respond to Monday’s lawsuit is unclear. But as TPS sister publication CCJ reported Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to OEMs last week reinforcing the revocation of California’s waivers by the federal legislative action, which rendered California’s standards preempted.
“CARB cannot use the Clean Truck Partnership as a backdoor to enforce California’s preempted emissions standards. Even if it could, CARB has not met — and indeed cannot meet — several of its own obligations under the Clean Truck Partnership,” Monday’s 71-page lawsuit states. “As a result, CARB cannot use the Clean Truck Partnership to force the industry to comply with California’s emissions standards.”
Monday’s lawsuit also deeply addressed the uncertainty of CARB action and its regulatory legality on current and future engine development, especially with 2026 order boards set to open in the coming months.
“Plaintiff OEMs must know within a matter of weeks whether they must seek a model year 2026 certification from CARB. Without regulatory certainty, Plaintiff OEMs are unable to engage in meaningful product planning, reducing their ability to deliver to customers the products they need and want,” the lawsuit says.
