On Thursday, members of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) sat through hours of public testimony on the proposed Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Rule, a comprehensive set of regulations intended to replace all commercial vehicles in public and large private fleets of gross vehicle weight 8,500 pounds and above with zero-emission versions by the year 2045. Representatives for the regulated community, including RCRC, along with spokespeople for communities impacted by pollution from heavy duty vehicles spoke in turn on how the rule could be improved.
A main point of contention for Board members was whether utilities would be able to provide charging infrastructure and grid reliability for the number of electric vehicles the ACF would require, as currently drafted, in a very short timeframe. Representatives from both the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) revealed plans to work together on a joint strategy for electrification deployment; however, neither agency could give assurances of a timeline that would allow CARB to implement ACF in tandem with the state’s electric passenger vehicle goals.
The rule was originally proposed for adoption by the Board at the hearing on Thursday, but staff announced that a new draft will be released in Winter 2023 that will provide more flexibility for public entities and will address fleets that are using renewable fuels to comply with mandates under CalRecycle’s organics recycling program pursuant to 2016’s Senate Bill 1383 (Lara). These changes are in response to efforts by RCRC and numerous other public and private stakeholders that are continuing to engage with CARB staff to attempt to craft a more workable final ACF rule. Board members also asked staff to consider the feasibility of moving the full implementation timeline to 2036, as well as moving initial implementation dates back, to account for demonstrated delays in electrification deployment.
For more information on ACF, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate Staci Heaton. More information on Advanced Clean Fleets can be found on CARB’s website.