EPA Tightens the Screws on Harmful Vehicle Emissions

The race to zero-emission vehicles just got turbocharged. This spring, the U.S. government issued its strictest limits yet on greenhouse gas emissions from medium- and heavy-duty trucks as well as from light-duty vehicles. The new standards are written to further cut back carbon emissions that speed up climate change and airborne pollutants that endanger human health.

The gross vehicle weight ranges of the targeted vehicles are covered by two rules released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As before, these rules apply to truck and engine manufacturers, and those manufacturers may select the technology to enable compliance. But it’s likely they will opt to further develop electric vehicles to meet the tighter limits.

With the release of two final rules this spring, the EPA has issued separate sets of vehicle emissions standards that kick in with model year 2027 for passenger vehicles and for categories of commercial trucks. Both rules will tighten emissions limits step by step.

Light-Duty Rule
The first of the pair of rules is a “multi-pollutant” standard that covers light-duty vehicles with Class 1 through Class 3 gross vehicle weight ratings. But be cautious of EPA nomenclature. The agency considers “heavy-duty Class 2b and 3 vehicles (vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of between 8,501 and 14,000 pounds)” as being within their “medium-duty vehicle” category. By contrast, in trucking parlance, medium duty starts with Class 3.

The light-duty rule will slash tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, as well as airborne pollutants that increase soot and smog that are harmful to humans. The EPA estimates the rule will cut carbon dioxide by almost 50% compared to the previously set limit for model year 2026 vehicles. With 2027 just around the corner, the manufacturers of Class 1 to 3 cars and trucks and/or their dealers should be consulted as to what to expect – and when – concerning the coming changes to their powertrain and vehicle offerings certified to the new limits.

Medium- and Heavy-Duty Rule
The second rule covers vehicles with GVWRs that run from Class 4 through Class 8, which the EPA denotes as heavy-duty vehicles. This rule sets a new GHG emissions limit and is described as a “Phase 3” standard as it revises the prior Phase 2 heavy-duty truck and engine limits set in 2016.

The Phase 3 limits will apply to a wide range of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, including public utility trucks, delivery trucks, refuse haulers, day cab tractors and sleeper-equipped tractors.

The new heavy-duty GHG limits alone will prevent the release of 1 billion tons of greenhouse gases over the next 30 years, according to the EPA. Of note: The Phase 3 standards include revised GHG standards for many model-year 2027 vehicles, changing what was previously required by the now superseded Phase 2 rule.

The EPA contends the Phase 3 heavy-duty standards are “technology neutral” and “performance-based, allowing each automaker to choose the mix of emissions control technologies that is best suited for their vehicle fleet to meet the standards.”

In other words, the agency expects that the new limits can be met by deploying a wide array of heavy-duty vehicle technologies, including advanced internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles; hybrid electric drive vehicles; plug-in hybrid electric vehicles; battery-electric vehicles; and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. So, under the new standards, a compliant fleet will likely rely on a mix of zero-emission vehicle and ICE drive technologies.

Complicated Stuff
To be sure, the rules are as complicated as one might expect given the six-year rollout and the variety of vehicle applications they will cover. The Class 7-8 tractor category alone is divided into 10 subcategories. Not surprisingly, the complexity only grows with vocational vehicles. The EPA came up with 15 separate performance-based emissions standards for each model year for Class 2b through Class 8.

In its final rule summary, the EPA holds that the rules will achieve “meaningful GHG emission reductions at reasonable cost, and that heavy-duty vehicle technologies, charging and refueling infrastructure, and critical minerals and related supply chains will be available to support this level of stringency …”

What’s more, the agency states that their “assessment of the final program as a whole is that it takes a balanced and measured approach while still applying meaningful requirements in [model year] 2027 and later to reducing GHG emissions from the [heavy-duty] sector.”

Not So Fast
But “balanced and measured” is open to interpretation.

“We are concerned that the final rule will end up being the most challenging, costly and potentially disruptive heavy-duty emissions rule in history,” Jed Mandel, president of the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association, said in a statement. However, he also stated that truck and engine manufacturers are “committed to a zero-emission future.”

The trucking industry’s biggest lobby was far less sanguine about Phase 3. The American Trucking Associations contends that the stricter post-2030 model-year limits are “entirely unachievable given the current state of zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure and restrictions on the power grid.”

ATA president and CEO Chris Spear stated that a “successful emission regulation [for trucking] must be technology neutral and cannot be one-size-fits-all. … While we are disappointed with [the Phase 3] rule, we will continue to work with EPA to address its shortcomings and advance emission-reduction targets and timelines that are both realistic and durable.”

How the new rules will roll out is a developing story that requires staying on top of as much as possible. In the meantime, fleets with replacement cycles that are set to kick in for model year 2027 or soon after would be prudent to review whether there is any upside to shortening or lengthening their cycle.

On one hand, how much these rules will affect a given GVW range and/or vehicle application is hard to say. On the other hand, the threat of massive pre-buying to get new vehicles into the fleet by the 2026 model year may be a weak one given that electric utilities tend to keep trucks longer than over-the-road fleets.

But with the kick-in date fast approaching, fleets that are not yet testing the electric waters may want to dip in more than a toe pretty fast. That way, they can be ready to move to EVs, advanced ICE vehicles or both in their replacement planning for 2027 and beyond.

About the Author: David Cullen is an award-winning journalist who specializes in covering the trucking industry. Based in Connecticut, he writes for several business publications.

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