Trucks and cars drive down the New Jersey Turnpike February 23, 2005 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency to deny California’s request for a waiver to implement new standards that she said could ban traditional gas-powered trucks in the state.
California requested a preemption waiver to implement administrative rules under 2023 California regulation called “Advanced Clean Fleets,” imposed by the California Air Resources Board. The rule would ban the sale of larger diesel vehicles beginning in 2036 and ban internal-combustion engines in medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. The letter, headed by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, called for the EPA to deny the state’s request because of its impacts on other states.
“Through Advanced Clean Fleets, California is attempting to export its radical climate agenda to our States, using its large population, market share, and access to international ports on the West Coast to force nationwide compliance with its ban on internal-combustion trucks,” the letter stated. “… An electric-truck mandate in California means more battery electric trucks traveling in our States—a mandate our States did not ask for and do not support.”