Legislation addressing clean truck mandates introduced – As previously reported in AGC WORKS, medium- and heavy-duty trucks are now under zero-emission mandates, as Washington State has linked itself with California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) program, meaning truck manufacturers must sell a certain percentage of zero-emission heavy and medium duty trucks in Washington.
Concerns have been raised about this, not the least of which is that truck manufacturers, according to the Washington Trucking Associations, are withholding truck deliveries until a dealer can demonstrate that a ZEV truck has been sold. This means dealers, whether they are in-state or out-of-state, who do not sell a ZEV truck in Washington will not receive legacy vehicle allocations, which means that truck dealers cannot sell diesel trucks in Washington State.
Now, legislation has been crafted which would de-link Washington from California’s mandates.
The bill (SB 5091):
- Provides legislative findings that California’s vehicle emission standards are not conducive to Washington’s economy or achieving our state’s decarbonization goals for transportation
- Repeals the statute that directs the Department of Ecology to adopt California’s vehicle emission standards
- Requires Ecology to adopt vehicle emission standards for Washington that are consistent with the federal Clean Air Act, but forbids Ecology from adopting California’s standards
- Makes conforming changes to vehicle registration and other related requirements.
Sen. Matt Boehnke (R-8) is prime sponsor of the bill; Sen. Mike Chapman (D-24) is first cosponsor. The Washington Trucking Association has spearheaded the effort to get the bill introduced. Given the current makeup of the Legislature, it may be difficult to secure passage of the bill, but proponents hopes SB 5091 calls attention to the ZEV mandate which many in the Legislature had been unfamiliar with.
For more information – or to share any experience you have had with the ZEV mandate – contact AGC Chief Lobbyist Jerry VanderWood.