Truck manufacturers could be using their pricing power to undermine California’s clean-truck standards, environmentalists say, and they’ve asked the state to investigate the industry’s practices.
California’s Advanced Clean Truck regulation requires companies to sell increasing numbers of emissions-free trucks in the state over the next decade. A companion regulation, the Heavy-Duty Low NOx Omnibus rule, requires companies to sell increasing numbers of low-emissions diesel trucks over the same time frame.
The new regulations could affect pollution-reduction efforts around the country. Ten other states plan to adopt the Advanced Clean Truck plan, and nine plan to adopt the clean-engine rule.
But some truck makers have told dealers there aren’t enough clean-burning diesel engines available to meet the clean-engine standards, says the environmental group Evergreen Action. Or the truck makers have told dealers they have to sell a specific number of zero-emissions trucks for every clean-diesel model they sell.
