Biden administration proposes new emissions limits for trucks and buses, more green transit
The Biden administration proposed limits on new buses and large trucks to curb some of their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% in the next decade on Monday.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced the proposed emission standard on Monday at a White House event alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“We’re pressing the accelerator to reach a zero-emissions future sooner than most people thought,” Regan said.
The announcement follows a series of actions by the White House to address climate change and reduce pollution. Buses and large trucks, classified as heavy-duty vehicles, make up about a quarter of U.S. transportation’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA, which devised the rule with input from other agencies.
The EPA’s new rule specifically targets nitrogen oxides, which can lead to cancer and premature death and contributes to acid rain and smog, among other greenhouse gas effects. The proposed rule aims to reduce emissions of the highly-reactive gases from large trucks up to 90% by model-year 2031, and places more stringent emissions standards for carbon dioxide by model year 2024.
If finalized, it would be the first time in more than two decades that federal standards for these types of vehicles have been tightened.
It echoes similar efforts proposed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom as the state pushes to be at the forefront of green policies in the U.S. The White House has relied on California’s climate policies before.
Harris said the federal government aims to grow green public transit, add cleaner-emission school buses and bolster jobs in transportation. The plan relies on funding passed through the bipartisan infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan from last year.
“We are all in the midst of a turning point. We have the technology to transition to a zero-emission fleet,” Harris said. “We can address the climate crisis and grow our economy at the same time.”
Harris said her experience visiting Mira Loma as state attorney general informed her views on pollution. The city near Riverside has some of the worst pollution in California, she said, with more heavy-duty trucks making more than 15,000 daily trips to the town’s main roads and Interstate 15, a major trucking corridor.
“Mira Loma is a community not unlike communities around our nation,” Harris said. “The first time I went to Mira Loma, you could taste the metal in the air. My eyes burned. The toxicity in the air was that thick.”
Harris said that residents of the city told her that friends and relatives were suffering from high rates of cancer, asthma and heart disease. “The fact is there are many Mira Lomas all over our country. Communities that have been left out and left behind. And where pollution from heavy-duty trucks and buses has made the air poisonous to breathe.”
Biden funds green buses, trucks
The Department of Transportation will add more than $1.1 billion for helping state and local governments buy electric transit buses through the fund known as the Low or No Emission Vehicle Program, the White House said. That adds to the $2 billion dedicated to the program over the last five years $372 million provided earlier in 2022.
This action should boost manufacturing jobs in California among several other states, the White House said, as those vehicles will be built in the U.S.
The Department of Energy is working with the trucking industry to make zero-emission technology more accessible, focusing $127 million on reducing costs and improving durability in hydrogen and battery-electric trucks.
The administration, through the bipartisan infrastructure law, will also set aside $280 million over the next five years for training transit workers to operate zero-emission vehicles and charging stations.
DOT will allocate another $2.2 billion toward transit workers and services across 18 states.
The EPA will give $17 million to replacing diesel school buses with electric ones in addition to the $5 billion set aside for the task in the bipartisan infrastructure law. The White House said that those funds will start being put to use in the next few months.
The president’s plan also calls for the federal government’s new vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035.
Biden borrows climate policies from California leaders
In January, Newsom outlined $10 billion for accelerating the switch to electric vehicles in California. As part of the plan, $935 million would go to 1,000 zero-emission short-haul trucks and 1,700 zero-emission transit buses; $1.5 billion for school transportation programs; and $1.1 billion for zero-emission trucks, buses and off-road equipment and fueling infrastructure.
It follows Newsom’s 2020 order to have all new vehicles sold be zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
In December, the EPA finalized fuel emissions standards for cars and smaller trucks to get at least 40 mpg by the 2026 model year, with regulations kicking off in model year 2023 and increasingly getting more stringent over time.
The White House announcements stem from an executive order that President Joe Biden signed this summer to have half of new cars sold by 2030 be battery-electric, fuel-cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Biden signed the order alongside automakers that committed to producing electric vehicles.
At the time, Biden told McClatchy that California’s own clean-car standards pushed through the so-called California Framework Agreement were “really helpful” in propelling the White House’s plan.
California announced the framework in 2019, against the grain of the former presidential administration, alongside four major automakers. The state’s more stringent tailpipe emission rules led former President Donald Trump to revoke the state’s unique ability set guidelines that differed from federal ones through a waiver.
Last month, a spokesperson from the EPA confirmed to The Bee that it was working on restoring that decades-old ability. With the waiver, California will be allowed to set emissions rules for cars and small trucks that are more stringent than federal ones; other states are allowed to adopt California’s standards.
California has been ahead of the curve in devising green vehicle rules since it was granted the ability to set stricter standards through the Clean Air Act of 1970. It was allowed to because of its historically dirty air.
“The restoration of our state’s decades-long Clean Air Act waiver will be a major victory for the environment, our economy and the health of Americans across the country in states that have chosen to adopt our pioneering standards,” Newsom said in an emailed statement about the impending decision.
“In collaboration with our federal partners, California will keep leading the charge to protect our communities and the planet,” he added.
Harris, who previously represented California in the U.S. Senate, heralded several green initiatives in her tenure, including for tackling drought, wildfires and greenhouse gas initiatives. She introduced the Clean School Bus Act, the first bill to push zero-emission school buses, that helped shape to school bus program that the bipartisan infrastructure law put money toward last fall. Harris has continued working on climate issues as vice president.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 8:33 AM with the headline "Biden administration proposes new emissions limits for trucks and buses, more green transit."
