California has decided to repeal laws aimed at eliminating trucks and requiring clean motorcycles as the Trump administration is unlikely to allow trucks in the state. State officials have long viewed the regulations as necessary to clean up California’s heavy pollution and combat climate change. The move comes after the Biden administration recently approved a request from the California Air Resources Board to phase out new vehicles by 2035, but has yet to approve exemptions for four other diesel models arriving in the state. President Donald J. Trump has threatened to roll back or defy all zero-emission vehicle laws and other clean air standards in California. By dropping the request for EPA approval, the Newsom administration returned the favor as Trump rewrote the law for his new term. “California has dropped pending waiver and permit requests that EPA has not yet acted on,” Air Quality Commissioner Liane Randolph said in a statement. “While we are disappointed that the EPA has not acted on all of the requests, the request was timely, but it is an important step given the uncertainty created by the new administration’s past attacks on California’s public health and climate protection plans and the signs that it will oppose those plans.
Environmentalists are concerned that the move will put communities at risk and disrupt vital services. California’s Advanced Clean Fleet Act, which aims to phase out diesel trucks, is one of the most significant and controversial laws the state has enacted in recent years to reduce emissions of harmful and greenhouse gases. The bill would end the sale of new gas-powered trucks by 2036 and require major trucking companies to convert their medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to electric or hydrogen-powered trucks by 2042. Trucking companies have sued the state to block the law, saying large-scale electric and hydrogen-powered trucks are unsuitable for many applications and would hurt the state’s economy. In addition, the state rolled back three other measures, including those regulating pollution from diesel generators, commercial vessels, and household engines carried on trucks and trains. Under the locomotive law, which takes effect in 2030, only locomotives older than 23 will be allowed in California, as long as they do not pollute. The law also limits the amount of time they can sit idle. People living in communities where trains are located have long complained that the fumes from trains and trains make them sick. Railroads say zero-emission locomotive technology is not yet available, so the rule is “unsustainable” and would lead to premature retirement of existing equipment, disrupting freight transportation.
More than half a century ago, Congress gave California special authority under the Clean Air Act to set strict emissions standards for cars, trucks, and other vehicles to combat the major problem of smog. However, the federal EPA must grant California an exemption to use these measures. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been granting exemptions to California for decades. Initially, it was denied only in 2008 for a law setting greenhouse gas emission standards for cars, but that decision was quickly withdrawn and the exemption was granted. But when Trump finally took office, his administration enacted a tougher policy on special case states, one of the biggest controversies of the early Trump administration. In 2022, the Biden administration reversed those efforts. California air quality workers have been waiting for years for Biden’s EPA administration to approve the final four rules, hoping time wouldn’t run out. But the EPA didn’t act in time. Randolph told CalMatters that the EPA had notified California that it didn’t have time to complete the four exemptions, and that’s why the airship was removed.