California drops diesel truck ban, other clean air rules before Trump takes office

California has decided to abandon its groundbreaking regulations that phase out diesel trucks and require cleaner locomotives because the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to allow the state to implement them.

State officials have long considered the rules essential to cleaning up California’s serious air pollution and combating climate change.

The withdrawal comes after the Biden administration recently approved the California Air Resources Board’s proposal. mandate to phase out new gasoline-powered carsbut had not yet approved waivers for four other emissions standards for diesel vehicles that the state adopted.

President-elect Donald J. Trump has threatened to repeal or challenge all of California’s zero-emission vehicle and other clean air standards. By withdrawing its requests for approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Newsom administration is signaling a dramatic step back as the state recalibrates in anticipation of the new Trump era.

“California has withdrawn its pending waiver and authorization applications that the U.S. EPA has not yet acted on,” Air Resources Board Chairwoman Liane Randolph said in a statement. “While we are disappointed that the U.S. EPA was unable to act on all requests in a timely manner, the withdrawal is an important step given the uncertainty presented by the incoming administration that previously attacked California’s programs to protect public health. public and climate and has said he will continue to oppose those programs.”

Environmentalists were concerned, saying it puts communities at risk and dismantles key programs.

“To meet basic healthy air standards, California needs to shift to zero-emission trucks and trains in the coming years. “Diesel is one of the most dangerous types of air pollution to human health, and California’s diesel problem is big enough to cast its own shadow,” Paul Cort, director of the Right To campaign, said in a statement. Zero from the group Earthjustice. “We will work tirelessly in the coming years, and we will ask Governor (Gavin) Newsom, state legislators and our air quality regulators to join us in cleaning up our freight transportation system and fixing the mess that the “EPA inaction.”

California Advanced Clean Fleet The rule, which would have phased out diesel trucks, was one of the most far-reaching and controversial rules California has enacted in recent years to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases. It would have ended the sale of new fossil fuel-powered trucks in 2036 and required large transportation companies to convert their fleets of medium and heavy vehicles to electric or hydrogen models by 2042.

The truck fleet rule was approved in 2022 after years of analysis, public hearings and discussions with industries and experts. It would have ended diesel’s dominance over the movement of goods in the state, with potentially profound effects on the state’s environment and economy. Trucking companies had already sued the state to stop the rule, saying large electric and hydrogen trucks are impractical for many uses and would destroy the state’s economy.

Diesel exhaust has been linked to cancer and contains fine particles that can cause asthma and heart attacks, as well as gases that form smog. Disadvantaged and low-income communities of color near ports, highways and warehouses They have long complained about harmful and dangerous diesel exhaust gases.

In addition, the State withdrew three other measures, including those that regulate emissions from vehicles with diesel engines. locomotives, commercial port vessels and refrigeration unit motors which are transported by trucks and rail cars.

Under the locomotive rule, only locomotives under 23 years old would have been allowed in California unless they had zero emissions. The rule also limited how long they could be inactive. People who live in communities with trains and railway stations have long complained that the emissions are making them sick.

Under the Clean Air Act, more than half a century ago Congress gave California the unique ability to set its own standards regulating vehicle emissions because of its severe smog. But the federal EPA must give California a waiver to implement them.

For decades, the EPA has granted waivers to California to set its own ambitious, technological standards for cars, trucks and other sources. Only one waiver (a 2008 rule setting greenhouse gas emissions standards for automobiles) was initially denied, and that decision was quickly revoked and the exemption granted.

But the last time Trump was in office, his administration took aim at the state’s situation. special status enact stricter rules, one of the most important environmental confrontations of the first Trump era. The Biden administration invested those efforts.

California air quality officials have been waiting for years for the Biden administration’s EPA to approve the final four rules, hoping time would not run out. But the EPA did not act in time.

The air board may have to rely on voluntary agreements with engine manufacturers, trucking companies and railroads.

“The California Air Resources Board is evaluating its option to continue its progress as part of its commitment to advance the important work of improving the state’s air quality and reducing harmful pollutants that contribute to poor health outcomes and worsen climate change,” Randolph said.

“It is clear that the climate, public health and air quality challenges facing California require urgent action. “We are ready and committed to continue the important work of building a future with clean air.”