California’s top pollution regulators approved a sweeping regulation on Friday that will ban the sale of diesel-powered trucks by 2036.
The move is the first-of-its-kind by any government and would set the state on the path to eliminating medium and heavy duty trucks from diesel to zero-emissions technology by 2045.
Driving the news: The new rule, which adds to the state’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, will push fleets into zero emissions technology by ending the sales of diesel-powered trucks.
- The rule must now be approved or denied by the Biden administration, via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. California’s vehicle emissions standards are regularly followed by other states.
- California’s Air Resources Board has argued that the trucks rule is expected to generate $26.6 billion in purported health savings, and fleet owners will save an estimated $48 billion from the transition to cleaner vehicles.
- California approved one of the world’s first regulations last year requiring all new car sales to be zero emissions vehicles by 2035, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
What they’re saying: Representatives of the American Trucking Association dismissed the regulation as being far too aggressive and not aligned with current technological or electric grid realities.
- “As it becomes clear that California’s rhetoric is not being matched by technology, we hope the board will reverse course and allow trucking companies the freedom to choose the clean technologies that work best for their operations,” the group said in a statement.
