Some of the nation’s largest truck-makers, including Cummins, Daimler, Ford, GM, Hino, Isuzu, Navistar, Paccar, Stellantis and Volvo, along with the Truck and Engine Manufacturing Association, have pledged to comply with California’s Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, which will require all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold or registered in the state to be zero-emission by 2036.

In May, after CARB voted to finalize the new rules, several industry trade associations expressed strong opposition (one predicted that ACF would “guarantee a complete dismantling of our state’s trucking industry”).

A railroad industry group recently sued CARB to block new rules that would require companies to purchase zero-emission equipment. The new pledge by truck-makers is part of an agreement aimed at preventing similar lawsuits from trucking industry players. The companies agreed to follow the new rules, and in exchange California regulators agreed to loosen some emission standards for diesel trucks. The state agreed to use the federal emission standard starting in 2027, and also agreed to let truck-makers continue to sell older diesel engines over the next three years, as long as they also sell zero-emission vehicles to offset the emissions from those older trucks.

The agreement is a major step forward—it also clears the way for other states to adopt California’s standards without worrying about whether the rules would be upheld in court, said CARB Executive Officer Steven Cliff. “I think that this sets the stage for a national framework for zero-emission trucks. It’s a really stringent California-only rule, or a slightly less stringent national rule. We still win in the national scenario.”

“This agreement enables the regulatory certainty we all need to prepare for a future which will include ever-increasing volumes of low- and zero-emission technologies,” said Michael Noonan, Director of Product Certification and Compliance for Navistar.

Source: Associated Press