California to Require Half of All Heavy Trucks Sales by 2035 to Be Electric

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday green-lit(Opens in a new window) California’s plans to require half of all heavy-duty trucks sold in the state to be electric by 2035.

The move, which California’s Governor Gavin Newsom described as a “big deal for climate action”, means the state will be the world’s first government to require zero-emission trucks. 

On Friday the EPA approved two Clean Air Act waivers, including the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule. 

The Clean Air Act of 1970 banned states from establishing their own emissions standards, but an exception was granted for California because it was dealing with smog when the legislation was passed. To establish new emission standards, California must ask the EPA for a waiver, which if approved, allows other states to do the same.

The ACT rule, once implemented, will require zero-emission trucks to account for 55% of all Class 2b-3 trucks, 75% of all Class 4-8 trucks, and 40% of all semi-tractor sales by 2035. In a 2020 executive order, Governor Newsom moved to require that 100% of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in California be zero-emissions, wherever feasible. 

According to California Government data(Opens in a new window), nearly 19% of all cars sold in the state last year were zero-emission vehicles. 

The funds to enact the legislation come from the California Climate Commitment, a $53.9 billion investment in tackling climate change and moving the state towards cleaner and renewable energies. 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB), which is pushing for more legislation on this issue, has said(Opens in a new window) heavy-duty vehicles heavier than 14,000 pounds account for just 3% of vehicles in the state but contribute over 50% of the total nitrogen oxides and fine particle diesel pollution.

As Reuters notes(Opens in a new window), Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have joined California in legislating for heavy-duty vehicle emission standards.

Celebrating the heavy-duty vehicle regulations, Newsom said, “Thanks to the Biden Administration, we’re getting more zero-emission heavy-duty trucks on the roads, expanding our world-leading efforts to cut air pollution and protect public health. We’re leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses—the most polluting vehicles—off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead around the world.”

American Trucking Associations Chief Executive Chris Spear however criticized the EPA’s approval of the regulations, saying they were “technologically infeasible rules” that “[sowed] the ground for a future supply chain crisis.”