While the United States as a whole is shifting toward being more environmentally friendly with new rules and regulations on diesel and commercial vehicles, California is the state most known for its strict emissions laws. With the harsher rules in place, California has been able to address issues that the federal rules were not likely to tackle such as the worst air quality in the nation and smog. California has since been very influential in many areas of the country in its ambitious movements toward zero-emissions vehicles, but how realistic are these changes?
The History Behind It
Since before the 1970s, California has been able to keep stricter emissions rules due to the California waiver. This was passed because of the state’s concerns regarding its smog. With the tighter regulations, California has moved further than the rest of the country in having more of its commercial trucks use environmentally friendly fuel methods.
In 1967, when the Clean Air Act was created and the California waiver was worked in, the state was allowed to have different rules from the federal level, but in 2019 the Trump administration revoked the waiver. The reason behind the reversal was a matter of states having more power than the federal government. The ruling was reinstated by the Biden administration in 2022.
Since all of this, California has played the role of a kind of experimental state. The rest of the country watches to see what happens as California continues to invoke strict regulations.
The State of Affairs in the Golden State
Since the state’s concerns with the smog that overcame Los Angeles, it has proceeded with more and more laws to improve air quality. California has been continuously adding rules and making changes to various regulations.
In 2023, zero-emission medium to heavy-size vehicles represented one in six of every new vehicle sold. These vehicles include:
- School buses
- Freight transportation
- Last-mile delivery
This progress is thanks to California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation that was put into place in 2020. The regulation affects medium- to heavy-duty vehicles from Class 2b to Class 8. To better understand this, it's important to know that Class 2b trucks are vehicles 8,501-10,000 lbs.
The Advanced Clean Trucks regulation was put in place with the following goals:
- 50% reduction of petroleum use by 2030
- 40% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030
- 80% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050
According to CARB, trucks account for 35% of California's transportation-generated nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. They also account for a quarter of California's greenhouse gas emissions even though they only make up 6% of the vehicles on the state's roads.
Working hand in hand with ACT is California’s Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation. ACF is meant to push a wider range of groups to incorporate zero-emission vehicles into their fleets. The fleets that are affected by this ruling are those completing drayage operations - these are vehicles that transport goods and while it is typically done by truck, drayage business can be intermodal.
This ruling has proven controversial, as 17 states sued to stop the law from going into effect, targeting the regulation before it could be reviewed and given a waiver by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many companies publicly shared that they were opposed to the regulation and would file suit against rulings the California Air Resources Board (CARB) would make in regard to ACF. The main reason a lot of states were resistant to the regulation was that it affected not only applicable vehicles registered in California but also those entering the state to operate there. However, the CARB finds ACF crucial to the acceleration in reducing tailpipe emissions. While 17 states stood opposed to California's rulings, 17 other states took the laws on.
Even with pushback, the Golden State was able to reach its goal of selling 1.5 million zero-emissions light-duty vehicles in the state, two years ahead of schedule. This number includes battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel-cell electric vehicles. The progress might be thanks to the funding and partnerships that have been made to help move forward with CARB's agenda. The state has provided almost $2 billion worth of zero-emission vehicle incentive funds, making it more appealing to follow the challenging regulations.
The Problem
Although California's laws are hopeful and made with good intentions, they are not realistic for the average small business owner. The incentive funding makes CARB's goals a little more realistic and attainable for the state but it obviously can't cover everyone. Since the laws affect freights that enter the state to do business as well, countless companies are being affected outside of California.
California's laws are well-intentioned and aimed at fixing a genuine air quality problem in the state, but it is a huge ask to get companies to switch over their fleets from diesel vehicles to ZEVs. While the laws are intended to help and can be seen as a good thing, they are also difficult to meet and can cause problems for those who can't easily fulfill the expectations. Even though the rules are controversial and can be seen on either side of the fence, they are important to be aware of.
Exceptions
While there are a lot of regulations in place, there are also a few exemptions and extensions that could be granted to California fleets for various reasons. These exceptions show an understanding that the regulations aren't always going to be easy and complying might not always be straightforward. While these exceptions aren't ways to avoid the regulations, they do provide a way for fleet owners to receive lenience and help when things out of their control pop up.
Adil Mahmood, a staff air pollution specialist in the compliance assistance and outreach branch at CARB, said in a webinar, "To be granted an exemption or extension, the fleet must be in compliance with the ACF regulation and cannot comply with the next applicable compliance date without receiving an exemption or extension."
Here are some of the exceptions:
"The exemption allows the fleet owner to remain in compliance by purchasing a new internal combustion engine vehicle of the same configuration instead of a ZEV or NZEV (near-zero emission vehicle)," explained Mahmood.
This extension has to do with when a fleet owner can't obey the ACF rules due to something out of their control - the ZEV they need to purchase is not available for purchase. In this case, an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle of the same configuration can be purchased in place of the ZEV, which they can't gain access to. This only applies to specific schedules - the Model Year Schedule, ZEV Purchase Schedule, or ZEV Milestone Option. Depending on the schedule the fleet owner is following, the timeframe to apply for the exemption will differ.
Similar to the ZEV Purchase Exemption, this exemption allows fleet owners to purchase a new ICE vehicle when there is no comparable battery electric vehicle available. It also applies to the same schedules.
This extension allows fleet owners a time extension if they are not able to comply with the ACF regulation because of an infrastructure installation delay beyond their control.
"Under this extension, fleets are given additional time to add ZEVs to the fleet if a project to install charging or hydrogen fueling infrastructure is started at least one year ahead of the compliance date and is delayed," said Mahmood.
This extension applies to the same schedules as the ZEV Purchase Exemption and the Daily Usage Exemption, with the addition of drayage trucks.
In the case of a catastrophic event - due to circumstances beyond the owner's control - where the vehicle and its engine are nonrepairable, this exemption provides the fleet owner the opportunity to replace the damaged vehicle with a used ICE vehicle.
This exemption will apply to the Model Year Schedule, ZEV Purchase Schedule, and drayage trucks.
There are more exemptions and extensions available and you can find more information about them here. While these exemptions and extensions are not permanent exceptions to the regulations, they can be used temporarily to help fleet owners experiencing one of the included situations to continue to comply with regulations without getting penalized.
California Trending
Although many states did not agree with California’s strict regulations, many states saw potential in the rules and have started to adopt them, as well. While at this point, it’s still hard to know what the overall effect on greenhouse gas will be, it is important to note that California has been able to make progress in reaching its future goals for a ban on diesel engine vehicles. Even so, this has been only the beginning and we won't know how successful the progression of laws will be until they come up. If it continues to be successful, it could be anticipated that more states will follow in California's footsteps.
In the past, the On-Road Truck and Bus Rule was seen as a devastating blow to truck and sweeper fleets. The Truck and Bus Regulation declared that all trucks and buses had to have an engine model year of 2010 or newer. This ruling has since been seen as a regulation of the past. The rule first came to exist in 2008 and the final deadline for compliance was Jan. 1, 2023. Each current regulation will soon pass by and be part of the California fuel laws history.
Striving toward cleaner emissions and a lower impact on the environment has been a trend spread wide across the country. California is leading these trends. Whether you are opposed to it or not, it is important to keep up with the details and progress when watching California continue to innovate and take new steps toward zero-emission vehicles and a lower impact on climate change. The emission laws are something that could affect you regardless if you are in California and they are something to keep an eye out for. Especially with the chaos of current environmental laws in the U.S. With the Trump administration taking the side of fossil fuels — arguing that fossil fuels should be produced at a higher rate — and pulling out of the Paris Agreement, the future of California fuel and emissions laws is uncertain.
