How will EV regulations affect truck drivers?
The Big Weekend Show panelists will explain the Biden administration’s electric vehicle policy, which will affect heavy-duty trucks starting with the 2027 model year.
First appearance on Fox: A free-market business group headed by two-time former U.S. Attorney General William Barr has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of California over climate change regulations designed to phase out diesel-powered heavy-duty vehicles.
The American Chamber of Free Enterprise, which was launched in 2022 to fight government regulation, this week nominated California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Air Resources Board (CARB) executives to serve in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. filed a lawsuit. Officer Stephen Cliff is the defendant.
AmFree Chamber and its co-plaintiffs, affiliated equipment distributors, argue that California’s Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulations are not part of the federal Clean Air Act because California has not obtained a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pursue this plan. They claim that it violates the law. Under the ACF rule, which went into effect this year, trucking companies must quickly transition their fleets from diesel to zero-emission vehicles.
“California’s attempt to effectively eliminate the internal combustion engine by forcing Americans to buy EVs is not only illegal, it is a threat to free enterprise in America,” said the Umphrey Chamber of Commerce Legal Center. Barr, who chairs the advisory committee, told FOX News Digital. “These mandates are unlikely to result in a net reduction in carbon emissions, and even if they did, the benefits would be dwarfed by the enormous costs these mandates impose on our economy and individual American households.” It will be inadequate.”
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Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at the Federalist Society meeting in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2022. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“We filed this lawsuit to protect Californians from government overreach and ensure continued access to affordable, reliable and accessible vehicles,” Barr added. “AmFree’s Legal Action Center will continue to file state and federal lawsuits that take on climate change mandates that are only implemented to advance liberal policies but are ultimately holding back the American economy. ”
In addition to alleging that California violated the Clean Air Act, the complaint alleges that the ACF regulations preempt the Energy Independence and Security Act and the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act. The former gives the federal government authority to set fuel economy standards, and the latter seeks to preempt state trucking regulations with federal standards.
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CARB adopted ACF in April 2023, the most aggressive truck electrification plan of its kind in the nation.
The regulation requires operators with short-haul tractor-trailers, government vehicles, and “high-priority” vehicles to begin transitioning to zero-emission vehicles this year. A “high priority” fleet is one that has a fleet of 50 or more trucks or is managed by a private company with at least $50 million in revenue.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks during a press conference on February 23, 2022 in Sacramento, California. (AP Photo/Ricci Pedroncelli)
New rules will require fleets using drayage trucks, short-distance trucks that transport goods from ports and rail yards, to buy only zero-emission replacements starting this year and become entirely zero-emissions by 2035. It is mandatory to do so.
Vehicles classified as “high priority” can either start purchasing only zero-emission vehicles this year or meet state goals such as having one-quarter of box trucks and vans be zero-emission vehicles by 2028. Must be complied with.
Additionally, for state and local government-controlled vehicles, 50% of heavy vehicles purchased this year must be zero-emissions. This requirement he will increase to 100% by 2027.
Overall, the ACF requires all commercial truck sales for all vehicles to be zero-emissions starting in 2036.
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“If people want to buy an electric vehicle, they should be able to do so freely,” AmFree Chamber CEO Gentry Collins told Fox News Digital. “The essence of our grievance here is not against EVs. The essence of our grievance here is against mandates.”
According to the Truck Engine Manufacturers Association, less than 1% of new vehicle sales in the United States are zero-emission trucks. (Graham Hughes/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
He pointed to the high cost and short range of electric trucks, which currently make up a small portion of new vehicle purchases nationwide.
CARB spokesperson Kate Lamb said in a statement to FOX News Digital that CARB does not comment on pending litigation. But she pointed to a variety of numbers showing the expected health and climate benefits of ACF regulation.
“Although trucks make up only 6% of the vehicles on California’s roads, they account for more than 35% of the state’s transportation-generated nitrogen oxide emissions and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions on the state’s roads.” It accounts for a quarter of the volume,” she said.
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Bonta’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
