EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Wednesday the environmental authority is “reconsidering” notorious heavy-duty truck emissions standards—as well as EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases altogether.
“The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration. As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment,” Zeldin said.
The agency is targeting its:
- 2024 heavy-duty greenhouse gas emissions rule, also known as GHG3,
- 2022 heavy-duty NOx rule,
- Many light- and medium-duty vehicle emissions standards, and
- 2009 endangerment finding that allows EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Zeldin made it clear that he intends to strike down the emissions standards. In announcing its reconsiderations, the agency called the Clean Trucks Plan “problematic” and pointed to the financial cost of environmental standards.
Rolling back environmental regulations was a key promise of Trump’s presidential campaign and industry experts forecasted his administration to weaken GHG3 and other rules.
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Massive regulatory rollback
The emissions standard rollback is part of reevaluations of several major regulations that Zeldin called “suffocating,” including power plant, oil and gas, mercury air pollution, industrial wastewater, greenhouse gas reporting, and other standards.
“Today I’m pleased to make the biggest deregulatory announcement in U.S. history,” Zeldin said in a video announcing the reevaluations, promising that the wide-ranging rollbacks will lower the cost of living.
Elimination of countless GHG regulations
The most significant target in EPA’s crosshairs is its 2009 endangerment finding.
The finding is the basis for EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. Zeldin said the EPA will also reevaluate all regulations that rely on the finding, including all greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks and beyond.
“I’ve been told the endangerment finding is considered the ‘holy grail’ of the climate change religion,” Zeldin said. “For me, the U.S. Constitution and the laws of this nation will be strictly interpreted and followed. No exceptions. Today, the Green New Scam ends as the EPA does its part to usher in the golden age of American success.”
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Trucking industry rejoices
Major trucking industry groups have publicly denounced EPA’s GHG3, calling it “unrealistic” and an “EV mandate.” These industry groups broadly applauded Zeldin’s announcement.
The Biden-era GHG3 rule has been ripe for Zeldin’s EPA to dismantle as it pushed for adopting zero-emission vehicles and technologies unproven for mass adoption. This differs from the EPA’s 2027 NOx rule, which was developed during Trump’s first term in the White House.
GHG3 is not strictly an EV mandate. However, the rule encourages manufacturers to sell ZEVs and the Biden-era EPA expected a quarter of new long-haul trucks to be ZEVs by 2032.
“The key difference here is the GHG3 rule definitely will include some ZEV sales to meet standards, [while] the ’27 NOx rule is just tailpipe emissions,” Lydia Vieth, an analyst with ACT Research, told FleetOwner earlier this year. “You’re still selling diesel vehicles … though there is some additional expense that comes with that—with the new useful life and warranty standards. But it’s not what you would call an attack on oil.”
Chris Spear, American Trucking Associations’ leader, praised Trump and Zelden for “restoring common sense to our nation’s environmental laws.” He added that, along with the 8.5 million working in transportation, these regulations impact all Americans.
“GHG3 in its current form is unachievable given the state of battery-electric technology and the sheer lack of charging infrastructure,” Spear said in a statement. “This rule has been an albatross for the trucking industry, threatening to reduce equipment availability, increase costs for businesses and consumers, and cause major supply chain disruptions.
The leader of the trucking industry’s most influential trade group urged federal regulators to set “realistic standards with achievable targets and timelines.” He said he longed for a more collaborative process between EPA and trucking, noting that in the past they worked together to reduce trucking emissions, leading to today’s cleaner semis.
“The trucking industry welcomes the resumption of this productive partnership with EPA,” Spear said. “Crafting a new national rule will prevent states like California from attempting to make an end run around the administration, creating a patchwork of impossible mandates that would jeopardize our economy.”
He said his federation of state trucking associations wants to work with the Trump Administration to “develop realistic, technology-neutral federal emissions standards that will benefit our environment, preserve and create jobs, and set our industry and supply chain up for success.”
The Truckload Carriers Association also praised the EPA’s announcement.
“TCA remains committed to actively engaging in this process to ensure that emissions regulations strike a balance between environmental progress and the trucking industry's operational realities,” read TCA’s statement. “By championing practical, achievable solutions, TCA and its members seek to support a transition that benefits both the industry and the environment.”
The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association celebrated the rollback.
"OOIDA and the 150,000 small-business truckers we represent welcome the EPA’s decision to reconsider the Phase 3 Greenhouse Gas emissions rulemaking and to review the federal NOx standard," OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. "Mom and pop trucking businesses would be suffocated by the sheer cost and operational challenges of effectively mandating zero emission trucks."
The Clean Freight Coalition, an industry group formed to oppose recent emissions standards, applauded Zeldin's move.
“The trucking industry has made significant improvements on tailpipe emissions over the last several decades, and we will work with the Administration on reasonable and achievable solutions that continue to deliver cleaner commercial vehicles moving forward," Jim Mullen, executive director of the coalition, said. "We will also continue to advocate for a national regulatory framework that is technology neutral and achieves the greatest benefit for the environment without unnecessarily burdening the industry, the economy, and all consumers of goods in our country.”
