President Donald Trump revoked the California Air Resources Board’s waivers for Advanced Clean Trucks, Advanced Clean Cars II, and Heavy-Duty Omnibus, eliminating most of the Golden State’s impactful emissions authority over commercial vehicles.
Trump signed three Congressional Review Act resolutions to terminate the waivers. By signing the resolutions, Trump nullified the CARB waivers and prohibited EPA from issuing similar waivers in the future.
“We officially rescued the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating California’s electric vehicle mandate once and for all,” Trump said at the resolutions’ signing event.
However, the CRA resolutions have a dubious legal standing that will be challenged in court.
See also: What do you think of ELP enforcement?
Trucking groups celebrate
Trucking industry leaders celebrated the win against state emissions regulations.
Gina Jones, a professional driver for Werner Enterprises and an America’s Road Team captain, joined Trump at the lectern to speak at the ceremony.
“Today, trucks are 99% cleaner than a generation ago,” Jones said. “We need great partners in government to continue that process. We cannot allow one state’s regulations to disrupt our entire nation’s supply chain.”
Other major industry celebrations included:
-
American Trucking Associations: “Today, common sense prevailed. We thank President Trump, EPA Administrator [Lee] Zeldin, and congressional leadership for taking decisive action to end crippling, detached-from-reality rulemakings that would have imposed devastating economic consequences on American businesses and families,” Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO, said.
-
Clean Freight Coalition: “The trucking industry won a tremendous victory today with President Trump signing Congressional rescission of the Biden EPA’s waivers for California’s ACT and NOx regulations,” Jim Mullen, executive director of CFC, said.
- Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association: “Our 150,000 small-business members have been saying it all along—electric trucks just aren’t a realistic option right now,” Todd Spencer, president of OOIDA said. “They’re too expensive, the charging infrastructure isn’t there. California’s NOx rules are already driving up the cost of doing business.”
Legal challenges likely
Under CRA, Congress can pass resolutions of disapproval against certain federal rules, which the president can then sign. With the assistance of Trump’s EPA, Congress had passed its resolutions of disapproval for ACT and Heavy-Duty NOx on May 22.
There is a catch, however: The resolutions may not be legal.
The Senate Parliamentarian, the Government Accountability Office, and several legal experts have argued that CRA is not applicable to the CARB waivers. CRA involves agency rules; the CARB waivers are adjudicatory orders, not rules.
After Congress passed the measures, CARB Chair Liane Randolph called the revocations an “unconstitutional, illegal, and foolish vote.”
Many legal experts, including John Watson writing for Spencer Fane, expect the resolutions to face court conflicts.
“The legal question as to whether the Congress is acting properly pursuant to the authority of the CRA would undoubtedly end up in court,” Watson said.
Trump, meanwhile, claimed at the ceremony that the resolutions are permanent.
“They can’t take us to court. They can’t do any of the things they can do with the executive orders,” Trump said.
A coalition of 10 attorneys general already announced a lawsuit against the resolutions.
“The Congressional Review Act was not designed to undermine a state’s right to set and enforce its own public health standards simply because the President opposes them,” said Massachusetts’s attorney general Joy Campbell, who joined the coalition.
California's governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to continue developing clean vehicle regulations and to prioritize government incentives for manufacturers and fleets that still follow CARB's regulations.
Electric trucks here to stay
Electric truck manufacturing will continue to grow, even if it is slowed by weaker regulatory pressure.
CARB’s latest wave of EV regulations was arguably the most significant regulatory pressure to adopt electric trucks in the U.S. Regardless of CARB regs’ fate, however, OEMs plan to produce a growing number of electric trucks.
In Europe, manufacturing of electric commercial vehicles maintains a breakneck pace. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, between January and April, diesel truck sales fell by 17.7%, while electric truck sales jumped 50%. Still, diesel trucks accounted for 93.4% of new European registrations.
In China, electric trucks make up 22% of light-duty commercial vehicle sales and 15% of heavy-duty truck sales.
U.S. OEMs continue to make major strides in EV development, despite a new regulatory landscape under Trump.
At the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo this year, Mack Trucks announced an electric variant of its new Class 8 Pioneer. Peterbilt just launched two new heavy-duty electric trucks, the 567EV and 579EV. A joint venture between some of the nation’s largest equipment manufacturers is producing a massive EV battery manufacturing center to reduce electric truck prices.
