The Department of Environmental Protection says it will allow “compliance flexibilities” for its zero-emission truck rules if manufacturers stop restricting the distribution of medium- and heavy-duty trucks with traditional internal combustion engines in New Jersey.
The administrative order, signed by DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette on June 25, does not specifically address the fact that House Joint Resolution 87 signed into law June 12 by President Trump repealed the federal waiver that had allowed California to implement its Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which New Jersey and other states also adopted.
NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor noted that although a coalition of states that includes New Jersey has filed a legal challenge, no court has issued an injunction preventing implementation of the federal government’s actions. Therefore, H.J. Res. 87 – and a companion resolution (H.J. Res. 88) overturning the Advanced Clean Cars II rule for passenger vehicles – remain the law of the land as the litigation proceeds, he said.
“Essentially, the DEP’s is granting compliance flexibility for a state regulation based on a California emission standard that has been overturned,” Cantor said Tuesday.
In 2021, New Jersey adopted the Advanced Clean Truck program that required manufacturers of trucks weighing over 8,500 pounds to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) annually. Credits for zero-emission trucks sold from 2022 through 2024 were earned to build a bank of credits that could be drawn upon after Jan. 1, 2025, when enforcement of the ACT credit and debit system was set to begin.
In response to the anticipated enforcement of the ZEV truck sales mandate taking effect in several states, including New Jersey, some manufacturers and importers have been restricting the sale of traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) trucks in these markets. This “ratioing” practice has limited the availability of traditional trucks to distributors.
The situation prompted the DEP to issue an administrative order that waives penalties on truck manufacturers and importers – even those that have not earned bankable ZEV credits prior to 2025 – provided they continue to make zero-emission trucks “available” to in-state distributors and do not restrict the sale of traditional internal combustion engine trucks in New Jersey.
The order states: “... the department has determined that it is in the public interest to institute additional compliance flexibilities for manufacturers that are unable to meet ZEV truck sales for model year 2025, provided manufacturers make ICE (traditional internal combustion engine) trucks available to distributors seeking them without restriction....”
The administrative order notes that a change in federal policy since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 has created “extraordinary disruptions in the electric vehicle industry and greater marketplace” and that this has “adversely impacted” the transition to ZEVs.
Companies have reported they are unable to meet annual sales requirements set by the Advanced Clean Truck program for a host of reasons, including federal tariffs, federal regulatory uncertainty, and the loss of federal financial support for ZEV manufacturing and supply chain improvement programs, public charging infrastructure, and consumer incentives, the DEP order states.
The administrative order says DEP may continue to provide compliance flexibility in 2026 as well.
