President Donald Trump on Thursday signed three congressional resolutions -- two related to trucking -- that will end the California Air Resources Board’s electric vehicle sales mandates and strict diesel-emissions standards.
Two of the three Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions, passed by Congress last month, disapprove of the Environmental Protection Agency’s waivers granted to CARB for its Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and Omnibus Low-NOx rules that impact truck emissions and sales.
ACT, which has been adopted by 11 states to date, requires medium- and heavy-duty truck manufacturers to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission vehicles from 2024-2035. The Low-NOx rule, which has been adopted by 10 states, imposes stringent emissions standards on new diesel truck sales.
“It’s been a disaster for this country,” Trump said of the California regs during a bill signing ceremony Thursday. He added that signing the CRAs “will kill the California mandates forever.”
What he called the “California EV mandates would ... have devastated our nation’s incredible truck drivers and the trucking industry. A diesel-powered semi-truck can drive from Reno, Nevada, to Los Angeles, California, and back on a single tank of diesel fuel, but the same exact journey would require an electric truck driver to stop" well more than once each way en route for the roughly 1,100-plus-mile round trip. The President estimated six times all told, adding "an estimated nine hours to the trip," he said.
[Related: CARB's path to enforcing its emission regs is now a questionable agreement signed by truck OEMs]
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, immediately following Trump’s signing ceremony Thursday, announced that he and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as CARB and 10 other attorneys general representing their states, are suing the federal government “for its unlawful use of the Congressional Review Act to attack California’s Clean Vehicles Program.”
Bonta asserted the “federal government’s actions are not only unlawful; they are irrational and wildly partisan, and they come at the direct expense of the health and the well-being of our people, of Californians. The President and his administration are attempting to strip away California’s longstanding legal authority to set clean vehicle standards, jeopardizing both clean air and high-paying green jobs.”
Trucking groups applauded Trump’s actions Thursday, with Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer calling Trump’s signatures a “big win for the men and women behind the wheel who keep America’s economy running. With bipartisan support in Congress and President Trump’s signature, California has been stopped from forcing costly and unworkable rules on truckers nationwide.”
Spencer added that “electric trucks just aren’t a realistic option right now. They’re too expensive, the charging infrastructure isn’t there. California’s NOx rules are already driving up the cost of doing business. We’re grateful to the lawmakers who listened to real truckers and stood up for common sense.”
Clean Freight Coalition Executive Director Jim Mullen said, “Eliminating California’s disastrous regulations is a critical victory, but additional course correction of the Biden’s EPA’s policies is still necessary. The CFC will continue to collaborate with the EPA and industry stakeholders to correct the Biden EPA’s ill-advised Greenhouse Gas Phase 3 and NOx regulations.”
American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said “common sense prevailed” with the signing of the CRAs. “This is not the United States of California. With the stroke of his pen, President Trump is restoring the certainty that the trucking industry needs to deliver for our nation as we continue to reduce our environmental impact.”
The third CRA the President signed was intended to remove the EPA waiver for CARB's Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which set more stringent emissions standards for gas-powered cars and trucks and would have required 100% of new passenger vehicle sales in the state to be zero-emission by 2035, beginning with reductions in gas-powered car sales in 2026.
The signing of the CRAs also received support from the National Automotive Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers groups. "America’s franchised dealers applaud President Trump for signing bipartisan legislation to stop California regulators from banning sales of new gas vehicles and diesel trucks, which would have begun later this year," the groups said. "California’s regulations would have reduced consumer choice and raised prices in the showroom for new and used cars. Banning gas and hybrid cars is a national issue that should be decided by Congress, not an unelected state agency. Enactment of this legislation ensures that consumers can continue to choose the vehicle that fits their needs.”
[Related: Clean Truck deal architect says emissions pact with OEMs 'going forward']
