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CARB Shifts Gears
By Mike McManus, Director of Engineering Construction & Industry Relations
Congress has passed three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions to nullify a set of California's Clean Air Act (CAA) preemption waivers. Environmentally, these actions mark the most significant threat ever to California's unique ability to set vehicle emission standards – an authority with roots that trace back to the Air Quality Act of 1967, before the modern Clean Air Act was enacted.
A few weeks ago, President Trump signed the three resolutions to set back the California Air Resources Board (CARB) agenda for years to come. The three resolutions were:
House Joint Resolution 87 disapproves of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) waiver for multiple California heavy-duty vehicle programs, including Advanced Clean Trucks (requiring increasing percentages of zero-emission truck sales), Zero Emission Airport Shuttles, and Zero-Emission Power Train Certification.
House Joint Resolution 88 disapproves of the EPA's waiver for Advanced Clean Cars II, which required all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California to be zero-emission by 2035.
House Joint Resolution 89 disapproves of the EPA's waiver for the "Omnibus" Low NOx regulation, which establishes more stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
CARB has previously withdrawn its request for an EPA waiver for the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation, which is now not enforceable at least until the end of the Trump Administration’s term in office.
The California Attorney General filed suit immediately in the U.S. District Court in Northern California and was joined by 12 other states. The suit alleges that Congress used an improper procedure to nullify the California waivers. This situation is likely to be in the courts for years to come and will eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the engine and equipment manufacturers and fleet owners will need answers from CARB about what compliance looks like in the near term. CARB has not acknowledged that its agenda to replace all internal combustion engines with battery electric cars and trucks has largely been derailed for now.
It appears that CARB is moving toward developing an alternative regulatory scheme to incrementally eliminate engines powered by fossil fuels. One way around needing to get an EPA-approved waiver is to pursue indirect source review rules targeting facilities (such as ports and warehouses) and enhanced incentive programs to encourage the transition to zero-emission vehicles. We expect CARB to go down this route for now.
The problem and challenge for fleet owners has been that the technology to transition to battery electric medium and heavy-duty trucks is just not there yet. In many cases, two electric trucks would have to be purchased to replace one diesel-powered vehicle. A government mandate like the one proposed by CARB just does not pencil out economically at this point.
Not to mention that the electric grid infrastructure and public charging infrastructure are also not there. CARB should let the private sector figure out how to transition away from the internal combustion engine.
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