Legal Insurrection readers may recall that among the California electric vehicle mandates, there were requirements for trucks under the Advanced Clean Fleet rules. Specifically, by 2035, 40% to 75% of new medium- and heavy-duty trucks (depending on vehicle category) must be zero-emission.
Now the state agency responsible for this delusional and destructive mandate has pulled the plug on the rule.
Gov. Gavin Newsom spent Climate Week positioning California as the foil to the Trump administration’s assault on electric vehicles, but the scope of the damage was in full view Thursday as air regulators put the final nail in the coffin for the state’s electric truck sales mandates.The California Air Resources Board — a powerful agency that sets emissions standards for vehicles, power plants and other polluters — voted to repeal its zero-emission purchasing rule for private fleets, the final remnant of the state’s aggressive push to mandate a rapid electric transition in the trucking sector.That decision was a formality after the agency failed to secure permission to enforce its stricter-than-federal Advanced Clean Fleets rule before President Donald Trump took office.But coming on the heels of Trump’s revocation of a companion rule that would have required truck manufacturers to increasingly build and sell more electric models, the move shows how thoroughly Republicans have upended California’s strategy.
In fact, back in August, when California decided to try and enforce its mandate, the Department of Justice sued.
The Department of Justice is charging the state of California with defying federal law by enforcing its electric truck mandate, according to complaints filed in California and Illinois on Thursday evening. The complaints ask the federal courts to declare California’s mandate illegal and to block the state from implementing it any further….”These actions advance President Donald J. Trump’s commitment to end the electric vehicle mandate, level the regulatory playing field, and promote consumer choice in motor vehicles,” the DOJ said in a statement.Under federal law, California is only authorized to set its own vehicle emissions rules if the Environmental Protection Agency grants the state a waiver to do so. While the Biden administration had offered waivers allowing California to implement electric truck and electric vehicle mandates, Congress passed resolutions earlier this year rescinding them. According to the DOJ, however, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has circumvented those resolutions under its so-called Clean Truck Partnership, which the agency has continued to enforce.
So this happy development is a direct consequence of the state not getting a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its mandates.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced the legal settlement. The state had led a coalition of 17 states in challenging the Advanced Clean Fleets rules in court.Among other things, a press release from the AG’s office explained, the ACF rule targeted any fleet that operated in California, regardless of where the fleet was headquartered. Given California’s large population and access to international ports, the news release said, this rule would have had nationwide effects on the supply chain.In the settlement, California agreed not to enforce key provisions of the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, affecting what it called “high priority” and drayage fleets, and to start the process to repeal it.California regulators also conceded that they cannot enforce California’s 2036 ban on the sale of internal-combustion trucks unless until the ban receives a Clean Air Act preemption waiver from the EPA. Such a waiver looks highly unlikely at this point.
This move also shows that President Trump developed sound strategies on how to effectively respond to “The Resistance” while he was away from the Oval Office. Those 4-years may have been a blessing in disguise for this country.
I am thrilled. This is one small win for regular Californians like myself, and one big win for the rest of the country.
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