The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has finalized its latest Regulation on Tuesday, imposing stricter nitrogen dioxide emissions standards on new heavy-duty trucks.
In an exclusive report released by the Daily Caller, experts and industry representatives reportedly told the News Foundation that the recent regulation is a move that will substantially increase the operating costs for truckers.
According to the agency’s press release, the rule is the “strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks beginning with model year 2027.”
“The new standards, which is the first update to clean air standards for heavy duty trucks in more than 20 years, are more than 80% stronger than current standards,” it added.
The recent rule came as the agency is moving forward towards implementing the historic Clean Truck Plan, which moves America’s highly polluting heavy-duty trucking fleet towards electric technologies and low-carbon.
This also comes as the Biden administration continues to push to accelerate innovation in zero-emissions truck technology to expand the country’s access to “clean school and transit buses, and training workers to install and maintain charging infrastructure.”
In an official statement released by EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, he claimed that “EPA is taking significant action to protect public health, especially the health of 72 million people living near truck freight routes in America, including our most vulnerable populations in historically overburdened communities.”
“But we’re not stopping there. This is just the first action under EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan to pave the way toward a zero-emission future. These rigorous standards, coupled with historic investments from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will accelerate President Biden’s ambitious agenda to overhaul the nation’s trucking fleet, deliver cleaner air, and protect people and the planet,” he added.
The recent regulation is reportedly based “on a robust, complete technical record consistent with the authority set forth in the Clean Air Act,” the EPA declared.
However, it sparked controversy after critics argued that rule is intended to push truckers to phase out diesel-powered vehicles and use electric vehicles (EV) instead which would suffocate an industry that is not ready to transition to EVs.
“If small business truckers can’t afford the new, compliant trucks, they’re going to stay with older, less efficient trucks or leave the industry entirely. Once again, EPA has largely ignored the warnings and concerns raised by truckers in this latest rule.” Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer told trade publication Freight Waves in a statement.
