The 2027-2032 Environmental Protection Agency Clean Fuel and SO2 Reduction Rules: Thanking the Administrator for Addressing the Comments from Health Experts and Community Voices
Combined with separate Environmental Protection Agency rules restricting other pollutants from heavy trucks, the slate of rules — for model years 2027 through 2032 — are meant to address both carbon emissions that drive climate change and the soot and smog that directly harms human health.
Paul Billings, the national senior vice president of the American Lung Association, thanked EPA Administrator Michael Regan on behalf of everyone who breathes. “Thank you, Mr. Administrator, for responding to the comments from health experts and community voices and recognizing the innovation that is occurring every day in the heavy-duty vehicle sector.”
The Biden administration says its rules are “technology-neutral,” allowing businesses to choose between hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles or “advanced” internal combustion engine vehicles. It also estimates that the fuel and maintenance cost savings would reach between $3,700 and $10,500 annually for a heavy-duty truck purchased in 2032.
On the other hand, some large public companies that operate large fleets of trucks, like Amazon and DHL, have publicly embraced zero-emission trucks as part of their climate targets. The companies pushed for the rules to be more stringent.
That’s a lot more EVs than the EPA expects heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers to sell. Light-duty vehicles have less batteries and are easier toelectrify than heavy-duty ones. Powering a giant truck takes a lot of energy, but they’re easier to charge.
The EPA relaxed the early years of the restrictions, but the trucking industry still hasn’t seen what the rules would mean for their bottom line.
“This misguided rule should be overturned by Congress, but short of that, our organizations are prepared to explore challenges in court,” the leaders of the American Petroleum Institute and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers said in a joint statement on Friday.
Emissions-heavy-duty-trucks-rule-epa (EPA’s new rules to clean up heavy trucking met with support and criticism)
The bus is parked most of the day. A garbage truck with its daily route. A tractor-trailer is on the road for hundreds of miles.
It is possible that battery-powered vehicles can handle shorter routes that allow for easy recharging at a depot. The Biden administration is funding all-electric school buses, for instance, which appeal to school districts — and also reduce school-age children’s exposure to diesel fumes.
Long-haul trucking is a challenge on that end of the spectrum. There are two main options for big rigs and hydrogen-powered trucks. Hydrogen trucks are not cost-effective and require brand-new infrastructure to distribute hydrogen, which is quicker to refuel. Batteries, meanwhile, are so heavy it would reduce how much cargo truckers could haul, aside from the charging challenges.
“In the short term, my children are going to enjoy reductions in air pollution which is going to undoubtedly reduce their risk of asthma attacks,” said Dr. Rosser during the briefing. “And in the long term this rule is going to mitigate climate change, which is harming everyone, including the children who I serve.”
Craig Segall of Evergreen Action, a climate group, called the rule “a key piece of the puzzle” for cutting emissions from the transportation system, noting that federal funding for freight charging infrastructure announced earlier this month will help the trucking industry meet the “ambitious standards.”
Source: EPA’s new rules to clean up heavy trucking met with support and criticism
Implications of Environmental Laws on Heavy-Duty Trucks, 18-Wheels, and Urban Buses for the American Lung Association
The oil industry and the biofuels industry objected to the regulations that penalize the internal combustion engine because of their feasibility and energy security questions.
Garbage trucks and 18-wheelers are covered by the standards, as are city buses and box trucks. The rules apply to the manufacturers and they are expected to push heavily on battery-powered vehicles.
Heavy-duty trucks have an outsize environmental footprint; larger industrial vehicles make up about 5% of the country’s vehicle fleet, but 20% of transportation emissions.
The rules were first proposed last year. After collecting comments from the public and industry, the EPA adjusted the final rule to kick in more gradually in the next few years and become more stringent in the early 2030s.
“There’s nothing new about polluting industries trying to avoid having to clean up,” said Laura Kate Bender, of the American Lung Association, calling some of the industry claims about costs “outrageous” and untrue.
“This administration appears more focused on placating extreme environmental activists who have never been inside a truck than the small-business truckers who ensure that Americans have food in their grocery stores and clothes on their backs,” said Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, in a statement.