The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is supporting legislation that would delay the state’s compliance with California’s clean-engine rules for medium and heavy-duty trucks.
Bills A-4967 (Calabrese, D-36); S-3817 (Diegnan, D-18) were introduced last week.
They require the state Department of Environmental Protection to delay the implementation of the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulations, currently scheduled to start on Jan. 1, 2025, until at least Jan. 1, 2027.
“As we forecasted when challenging the rule originally, the demand, affordability, and feasibility for the purchase of electric trucks in such a compressed time frame isn’t there for many businesses,” said NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor.
“If this bill does not become law, or if alterations are not made to the Advanced Clean Truck rule as currently written, it will needlessly cost hundreds of millions of dollars for the trucking industry, it will decimate the logistics industry, including our ports, and those costs will be passed on to consumers.”
Last week, Massachusetts joined Oregon in delaying implementation of Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) regulations, which mirror the same rules set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
In New York, efforts to delay or alter the rule by trucking stakeholders are also getting traction with lawmakers.
At the same time, ACT is also being challenged in federal court by attorneys general from 19 states and a coalition of stakeholders.
In New Jersey, beginning with model year 2025, Advanced Clean Trucks require a certain percentage of sales of new trucks to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEV). That percentage increases every year through model year 2035.
Currently under the ACT regulation in California, a manufacturer generates ZEV credits for each ZEV produced, delivered, and sold for purchase in state for the manufacturer-designated model year.
That means ZEV credits are only earned when a new, on-the-road ZEV is sold to the final purchaser in California. If the ZEVs are not sold, diesel trucks can’t be sold either.
“It basically means manufacturers are forced to deliver ZEV trucks to their dealers in their state, until a sufficient number are purchased by consumers that generate enough credits to allow the manufacturers to then start delivering non-ZEV or internal combustion engine trucks to their dealers,” Cantor said.
“Until that point, dealers are stuck with ZEV trucks that few people want to buy, and then customers are waiting to buy gas-powered trucks that dealers can’t get from their manufacturers. This is not a recipe for business success.
“Further, if the rule is not delayed, purchasers will be forced to buy diesel trucks out–of-state, thus harming in-state dealers.”
CARB is reportedly considering amending the rule to revise when ZEV credits are granted to the manufacturer.
“Obviously, there are many issues with the implementation of this rule,” Cantor said. “But as we’re just two months away from the implementation of it, it’s imperative that the Legislature step in to stop it.
“Without it, there could be disruption to the supply chain in New Jersey and our affordability crisis will worsen.”
