California has agreed to repeal its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule and to withhold enforcement of any of its provisions. The state backed away from its zero-emissions agenda in a legal settlement of an antitrust case brought by the Nebraska AG, in conjunction with the attorney generals from 15 other states and the Arizona state legislature. The litigation will remain on hold until California completes the ACF repeal.
The ACF rule had mandated that all trucks and buses sold in California would be zero-emission vehicles by 2036 and that all heavy-duty vehicles operating in the state, including those entering California from another jurisdiction, would be zero-emission by 2045. Given California’s large economy and major port system, the ACF rule amounted to a nationwide mandate, affecting motor carriers no matter where based.
California had sought a waiver for the ACF rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because the rule applied emissions standards stricter than the emissions levels in federal law. The state withdrew that waiver application just before the Trump Administration took office but did not concede that an EPA waiver was actually necessary (https://www.prepassalliance.org/california-withdraws-from-zero-emission-trucks/). As part of the Nebraska litigation settlement, California has now agreed that any future zero-emissions effort does require a waiver from EPA. Notably, under the prior Administration EPA did grant California a waiver for zero-emission cars, which the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to end and the current EPA is reviewing.
At the same time, the California Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, which requires truck dealers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks, is the focus of attention by truck dealers in states which followed California’s ACT lead (https://www.prepassalliance.org/advanced-clean-trucks-rule-under-attack-in-several-states/).
Joining the Nebraska AG and the Arizona state legislature in the ACF lawsuit against California were the attorney generals from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.