What to Make of California’s Advanced Clean Fleet Rule

May 02, 2023

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by Allen Schaeffer (Diesel Technology Forum) The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted another far-reaching regulation that dictates what kind of trucks and fuels can be used in California in the future. Last week’s move comes on the heels of the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule which was adopted in 2021 and mandates an increasing percentage of sales of zero emission trucks in California.

Taken together, these rules could be likened to a game of Jenga®. In this case, instead of a stack of wooden blocks, it is a teetering tower of rules and deadlines on the backs of manufacturers and fleets. It leans heavily on government funding and incentives, with uncertainty and assumptions of cost, projections of timing, and feasibility protruding at every level. Which block will be the one to topple the tower, or will it withstand the force of time?

The rules are related and, according to CARB, based on the need not only to meet California’s clean air needs but also the state’s commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and tackling climate change. According to CARB the benefits far outweigh the costs, and the need is immediate.

What does all this mean for the future of diesel and other internal combustion engines in California? Some flexibilities are provided to continue to operate or acquire a new internal combustion engine truck in hardship cases or if zero emission vehicles or infrastructure are not available at the compliance deadline. CARB indicated they will review the state of technology in 2025. The rule banning diesel and gasoline truck sales does not apply to emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks.

Starting in 2036, all new sales of medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks must be zero emissions in California; scaling up from phased-in timelines that start in 2024 and vary by the type of truck. Companies that operate 50 or more trucks or have $50 million in annual revenue will be forced to gradually convert their fleets into electric or hydrogen models. They will need to reach 100% zero-emissions by 2042, with timelines also based on the type of truck.

The earliest requirements would be for trucks that serve the ports (drayage trucks) of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Oakland. All of them must be converted to electric models by 2035, and new sales beginning in 2024 must be zero emissions.

The state requirements to switch existing truck fleets to zero emissions by 2042 would apply to “high-priority fleets,” which are owned or operated by companies with 50 or more trucks or $50 million or more in annual revenue, and to federal trucks. CARB also indicates it will begin looking at similar mandates for zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) for smaller fleets of less than 50 vehicles in the future. This is significant since, according to the American Trucking Associations, 90% of the trucking industry are fleets containing 20 or fewer vehicles.

To say the rule was controversial would be an understatement.

Hundreds of testifiers and commenters have made their case to CARB’s board since last fall when the proposal was first released. Like many things in America these days, polarization ruled the day, with comments following a familiar pattern. Environmental advocates and residents around port communities or freight corridors praised the rule and wanted it to be more aggressive in timelines and phase-in. In the end, the Board responded by moving up one deadline by four years.

Trucking user groups, local governments, and those on the receiving end of the regulation generally expressed grave concerns, and dismay that the Board had failed to consider the good-faith suggestions made during the rulemaking process. Trucking industry representatives summed it up this way:

“The amount of chaos and dysfunction that is going to be created by this rule will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” said Chris Shimoda, Senior Vice President of the California Trucking Association, an industry trade group.

Chris Spear, President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations said this:

“Today, an unelected Board in California voted to force trucking companies to buy zero-emission trucks. Fleets are just beginning to understand what it takes to successfully operate these trucks, but what they have learned so far is they are significantly more expensive, charging and refueling infrastructure is nonexistent, and ZEVs are not necessarily a one-for-one replacement—meaning more trucks will be needed on California roads to move the same amount of freight.

California is setting unrealistic targets and unachievable timelines that will undoubtedly lead to higher prices for the goods and services delivered to the state and fewer options for consumers. 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 challenges for this shift in industrial policy to move from a fossil fuel-based transportation system to fully electrified at a state level are unprecedented. Penske Truck Leasing, a leader in the industry said this about the timelines:

“Fleet scale (electric charging) infrastructure projects of 5+ Mega watts (MW) take 3-5 years in a best-case scenario, meaning the initial 1/1/2025 deadlines are already an impossible target for most fleets, even with a one-year implementation delay.”

The highly respected California Council on Energy and Economic Balance (CCEEB) said:

“It’s impacts will reach far beyond the medium and heavy-duty trucking fleets it directly regulates, requiring nothing less than a fundamental transformation of the state’s electrical, energy, and goods movement systems. Indeed, to even have a realistic chance at achieving its stated goals, the Rule would require a year-over-year expansion of statewide electrical generation, transmission, and distribution capability in the next two decades well above what the State previously has been able to achieve in even its highest single year.”

Local governments weighed in as well which lead the League of California Cities, State Association of Counties, and California Special Districts Association to say:

“The vehicles don’t exist, the infrastructure does not exist, grid reliability is sketchy, there’s nothing to protect public agencies from price gouging.”

Comments filed by a leading environmental analysis firm Ramboll for the Western States Petroleum Association, found that:

“…expanded implementation of zero-emission and low-NOX vehicles, coupled with increased introduction of renewable liquid and gaseous fuels, can deliver earlier and more cost-effective benefits than a ZEV only approach. As advanced low-emitting trucks are commercially available to deliver benefits to communities sooner, with greater certainty, multi-technology pathways can help achieve emission reductions without reliance on infrastructure and technology upgrades that will take years to resolve.”

Among other things, some commenters noted that the success of the CARB ZEV mandate assumes:

A successful tripling of the power supply in California to fully renewable resources, and

The power grid will be both ready and capable of supporting a mass switch to electric power for transportation, even as blackouts and brownouts are annual occurrences today.

California is but one state, with a few others following. At the federal level, EPA’s initial signals in its just proposed Phase 3 Greenhouse Gas Rules are toward a technology neutral approach at the federal level with no discussions about bans or unachievable emissions standards. Instead, EPA proposed standards:

“...do not mandate the use of a specific technology, and EPA anticipates that a compliant fleet under its newly proposed standards would include a diverse range of technologies (e.g., transmission technologies, aerodynamic improvements, engine technologies, battery electric powertrains, hydrogen fuel cell powertrains, etc.). The technologies that have played a fundamental role in meeting the Phase 2 GHG standards will continue to play an important role going forward as they remain key to reducing the GHG emissions of HD vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.”

We’re still learning about how this all fits together or doesn’t. The need and opportunity to achieve cleaner air and reduce GHG is a basic shared goal among everyone; even those with the most extreme points of view for or against either of these rules.

CARB’s clean fleet and clean truck mandates do ensure at least one thing - the next generation of diesel trucks and continued use of low-carbon renewable biodiesel fuels in California will be extremely important. This new generation of diesel trucks for California will be 75% cleaner starting next year (2024) and 90% cleaner than today in 2027.

Ensuring continued progress toward cleaner air and reducing GHG emissions rests largely on the turnover of the legacy fleet to newer generations of available and affordable diesel technology. Also, expanding use of low carbon renewable biodiesel fuels ensures continued progress in lowering GHG emissions as the zero emissions future is yet to fully materialize. Truck and engine manufacturers have stated their commitment and have some ZEV products on the street but also realize the need to serve their customers’ needs today. They recognize a lot more has to happen with infrastructure and technology in general to realize a deep penetration of ZEV technology in the trucking industry.

This will be vital to keep the economy moving with the inevitable slippage of deadlines, twists, and turns on the journey to a zero emissions future. Or in case the tower tumbles completely. READ MORE

CARB Votes to Go Zero-Emissions, End ICE Truck Sales (NGT NEWS)

Biden-backed California rule pushes clean trucks: Truck manufacturers will have to sell an increasing share of zero emissions vehicles now that the EPA has approved California’s regulations. (Politico)

California approves rule ending diesel truck sales by 2036 (The Hill)

Even With OEM Compromise, Some in Trucking Industry Continue ACF Opposition (ACT News)

TRUCKERS STRIKE BACK: CARB may view electrification and hydrogen as the future of trucking in the long-term, but the California Trucking Association (CTA) has a different idea. (Politico (scroll down))

Excerpt from ACT News: ... After filing a suit against CARB last July and then withdrawing it two months later, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) has changed its position on the matter. The group, along with Cummins, Daimler Truck North America, Ford, General Motors, Hino, Isuzu, Navistar, PACCAR, Stellantis N.V., and Volvo Group North America, recently entered into an agreement with CARB with the intention of helping fleets with the transition to the cleaner vehicle technologies mandated by ACF.

The Clean Truck Partnership, as it has been named, is aimed at guiding fleets as they look to procure vehicles to meet the 2024-2026 ACF-related mandates. While it took the group a little more than three months to reach an agreement, officials are already proclaiming this to be a step in the right direction, including California Governor Gavin Newsom.

“California has shown the world what real climate action looks like, and we’re raising the bar yet again. Today, truck manufacturers join our urgent efforts to slash air pollution, showing the rest of the country that we can both cut dangerous pollution and build the economy of the future,” said Gov. Newsom in a recent statement.

EMA chimed in as well, with President Jed Mandel stating that the agreement “reaffirms EMA’s and its members’ longstanding commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future and it demonstrates how EMA and CARB can work together to achieve shared clean air goals.”

“Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles. We look forward to continuing to work constructively with CARB on future regulatory and infrastructure efforts designed to support a successful transition to ZEVs,” added Mandel.

But not all groups within the industry have been as accepting. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) quickly sounded the alarm once ACF was adopted in April, stating that the rule is not taking into account that these zero-emission trucks are still in their early stages and there is a lack of infrastructure throughout the country to support them.

Calling CARB an “an unelected Board in California,” Spear said that this would “force trucking companies to buy zero-emission trucks,” adding, “Fleets are just beginning to understand what it takes to successfully operate these trucks, but what they have learned so far is they are significantly more expensive, charging and refueling infrastructure is nonexistent, and ZEVs are not necessarily a one-for-one replacement — meaning more trucks will be needed on California roads to move the same amount of freight.”

Spear also called the targets and timelines unrealistic and unachievable timelines, while saying that they could also lead to higher costs related to the delivery of goods and services that the trucking industry supports.

The ATA’s concerns were trumpeted in joint comments sent to CARB in early April by the ATA and the California Trucking Association. The duo summed up their objections in in three main points, stating that the ACF:

Requires fleets to deploy zero-emission vehicles in circumstances that are not prepared to transition as quickly as mandated;
Directs charging/fueling infrastructure to be developed more quickly than is possible; and
Creates exemptions that are inadequate for many fleets that do business within the state of California.

As stated by GNA’s Director of Compliance Sean Cocca in a recent webinar, ACF is here. It is up to fleets, the agencies that regulate them, and the OEMs and solution providers that support them to make this transition as seamless as possible, while still sustaining an efficient and streamlined supply chain along the way. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico: The industry group filed a lawsuit today (October 16, 2023) against the California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule, which ends fossil-fuel powered truck sales by 2036 and requires large trucking companies to transition their fleets to zero-emissions by 2042.

Their argument was similar to what it’s been all along:

“Our objection to the Advanced Clean Fleets regulation comes down to the lack of planning and coordination with other state agencies, nonexistent infrastructure, unprecedented demands on the state power grid, the wildly unrealistic timeline mandated by CARB for phasing into medium- and heavy-duty truck technology that is still in development and a clearly unachievable regulation that is in direct violation of multiple federal laws,” CTA CEO Eric Sauer said in a statement.

We know the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association won’t pile on. They agreed not to sue the state over the regulation in July in exchange for CARB relaxing some short-term requirements for trucks to reduce smog.

CARB spokesperson Lys Mendez said the agency doesn’t comment on litigation.

The rule is scheduled to take effect Jan 1.

For those hedging their bets, CARB is still hosting an Advanced Clean Fleets training webinar on Thursday (October 19, 2023). READ MORE