Oregon Trucking Association, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch 2 Evan Oneto OTA Chair FROM THE EPA & ARB, PHASE 3, ACT AND ACF: A QUICK REVIEW OF UPCOMING TRUCK REGULATIONS AND MANDATES IF YOU ARE like many of my friends and colleagues in trucking, you may have seen or heard about some of the headlines regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent approval of their “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles— Phase 3,” more commonly known as the “Phase 3 Rule.” But like many busy trucking industry professionals, you likely haven’t had a chance to really sit down and digest the contents of the rule and its potential impact to the industry or your business specifically. Or perhaps you’ve heard bits and pieces about what the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been up to lately but aren’t clear on the differences between the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule and the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule and where Oregon currently stands in reference to these rules. If you aren’t intimately familiar with the details of all these rules, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most company owners and managers I know are simply focusing on keeping their head above water during these challenging economic times, and rightfully so. But, like it or not, understand it or not, regardless of potential electoral changes or legal challenges, it is likely that some forms of these rules are here to stay and are coming to Oregon. So, let’s take a quick review. EPA Phase 3 Rule The EPA Phase 3 Rule would require truck manufacturers to reduce their CO2 emissions from the previous Phase 2 standards established in 2016 by a set percentage, according to vehicle type, starting in 2027 and culminating in 2032. For example, new light-heavy vocational trucks (think Class 2b through Class 5 trucks) must reduce their CO2 emissions by 17% in 2027, ramping all the way up to 60% by 2032. Whereas day cab tractors must reduce their CO2 emissions by 40% in 2032. And while the EPA maintains that the rule is technology neutral, allowing manufacturers to achieve these reductions through a variety of potential technologies, many industry experts see the rule as a de facto battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales mandate given the limited ability to achieve such dramatic additional reductions through new internal combustion engines and the limited availability of hydrogen infrastructure and technology. The EPA’s Phase 3 emission reduction targets even resemble the mandated sales schedule for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) required under California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rule, which requires 75% of medium duty trucks and 40% of Class 7–8 trucks sold in the state to be zero emission by 2035. The EPA cited the California rule often in their background explanation of the final Phase 3 Rule published in the Federal Register. They noted that ten other states in addition to California have already adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule (Oregon being one of the first), with more likely on the way as part of a 17 state MOU establishing goals to support widespread electrification of the heavy-duty vehicle market. The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) opposed the Phase 3 Rule, stating, “The new GHG Phase 3 rule will require manufacturers to sell a set percentage of zero-emission vehicles, which is beyond their own ability to control.” However, the EMA also previously signed an agreement with CARB, agreeing to adhere to the terms of the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule in the state regardless of any subsequent legal challenges (which they agreed to abstain from in any state that adopts the rule), as well as meeting 100% ZEV sales in CA by 2036, and to make best efforts “to sell as many zero-emission trucks as reasonably The choice of how and how much to get involved is yours. But I do hope you get and stay engaged with OTA and encourage your peers to join if they’re not members as our industry navigates so much profound change during this vast technological transition.
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