EPA Approves Regulations for 2035 Phase-Out of Gas-Powered Vehicles
The Biden administration approved California’s Clean Air Act waiver request for two clean vehicle regulations.
The Advanced Clean Cars II rule will require the phase-out of the sale of new gasoline-fueled or diesel-fueled passenger cars and trucks by 2035. The Heavy-Duty Omnibus rule will establish more stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty engines, including reducing NOx emissions by 90%, and lengthen the useful life and emissions warranty for new heavy-duty vehicles.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved the Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations in 2022 The regulation requires zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) sales to be at least 35% of car sales by 2026 and 100% of car sales by 2035. ZEVs include battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must grant the state a waiver from the Clean Air Act if California can establish that it has “compelling and extraordinary circumstances” for the standard and that manufacturers can develop and apply the necessary technology to meet the standards. The Act also allows other states to adopt the stricter California standards. (California’s Energy Transition: Auto Emissions here.)
With the approval of the two rules, California is now awaiting waivers from the EPA on six emissions rules. The Biden EPA is under pressure to approve the waivers to the Clean Air Act before leaving office.
The remaining waivers under review are:
The Small Off-Road Engines (SORE) rule, which would ban the sale of gas-powered yard equipment.
The Commercial Harbor Craft rule, which would require new harbor craft to be zero-emissions.
The In-Use Locomotive rule, which would phase out diesel engine locomotives.
The Advanced Clean Fleets rule, which would require truck fleets to be ZEVs by 2036.
The In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fueled Fleet rule, which would phase out certain diesel fueled equipment.
The Transport Refrigeration Units rule, which would phase out diesel-powered transport refrigeration units.