A California law mandating that half of all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles acquired by the state and local governments be emissions-free between 2024 and 2026 is being challenged in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of Republican state attorneys general.
The California mandate is essentially a nationwide mandate since California ports play a crucial role as major weigh stations for shipping. The mandate would also require that by 2027, 100% of heavy-duty vehicles acquired be emissions-free and that new drayage trucks, vehicles used to convey containers and bulk goods, be zero-emissions starting on Jan. 1.
Another lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules requiring 30% of heavy-duty trucks to be fully emissions-free by 2032. The EPA projects this move will avert up to 1 billion tons of carbon emissions over 30 years.
The lawsuits were filed by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, a Republican, leading a coalition of 17 states and a trucking trade group for the California lawsuit and 24 states for the EPA lawsuit.
“California and an unaccountable EPA are trying to transform our national trucking industry and supply chain infrastructure. This effort — coming at a time of heightened inflation and with an already-strained electrical grid — will devastate the trucking and logistics industry, raise prices for customers, and impact untold number of jobs across Nebraska and the country. Neither California nor the EPA has the constitutional power to dictate these nationwide rules to Americans,” Hilgers said in a statement.
The lawsuit comes over a month after a federal court ruled that California can continue to set its own vehicle emissions standards. Two years ago, the Biden administration restored the state’s authority to set its own emissions standards after the Trump administration revoked the state’s ability. The rules set by California are often stricter than the rules set by the federal government.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost led the 2022 lawsuit along with other states, claiming California’s ability to set its emissions standards violated the Constitution and infringed upon the federal government’s authority, but the court ruled in favor of California as the states failed to show how California’s emissions standards would increase costs for gas-powered vehicles in their states.
California is now seeking a waiver from the federal government to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
