California has withdrawn its request for a federal waiver to require commercial truckers to transition to zero-emissions vehicles, preempting an expected denial from the incoming Trump administration, reported Reuters.
The withdrawal was among several waiver requests filed with the EPA that were dropped by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), according to documents posted on Tuesday. The waivers included ones for locomotive and refrigeration unit rules and would have allowed California to set pollution limits that are more stringent than federal standards.
California's Advanced Clean Fleets rule “aimed to set timelines for operators of trucks carrying everything from U.S. mail and UPS packages to 40-foot containers of goods and other cargo, to switch to zero-emissions vehicles such as those powered by electric batteries,” according to Reuters.
“This is a welcome development as setting technology mandates by policy undermines innovation which would otherwise better reduce emissions and spur the economy. The infrastructure isn’t ready for the timelines California wanted to set which is why market competition is a better way to get the results that benefit everyone,” said Matt Durand, deputy general counsel at NACS.
CARB's decision to withdraw the EPA waiver request for its clean truck rule is certain to resonate beyond California, wrote Reuters.
The California Trucking Association in 2023 legally challenged the truck regulation, which was slated to go into effect at the start of last year, and California put it on hold pending a waiver decision from the EPA.
Among other things, it would have required seaport semi-truck operators to have zero emissions by 2035, and longer distance sleeper cabs would have been required to have zero emissions by 2042.
In December, the EPA approved California’s landmark plan to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035.