California has banned large trucks and buses from operating on the liberal state’s roadways in an apparent effort to combat climate change.
The law, which went into effect on New Year’s Day, will prohibit about 10 percent of the commercial motor vehicles that are operating in the state, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
“The rule applies to diesel vehicles that weigh at least 14,000 pounds. The air resources board said there are an estimated 200,000 vehicles that have yet to comply with the rule just days before the new year, including roughly 70,000 big rig trucks, or about 10% of the commercial motor vehicles operating in the state, according to trucking lobbying groups,” KCRA reported.
CARB argued that newer engines are better at “filtering out harmful particulate matter.”
“When we passed the regulations in 2008, it was to reduce community exposure of toxic air contaminants, it is 100% to protect public health,” said Gerald Berumen, spokesman for CARB.
Because of the new law, the California Department of Motor Vehicles will no longer register vehicles that are not in conformity, but a truck older than 2010 will be exempt if the engine is replaced with a model made in the last 12 years.
“The air resources board said it also has an enforcement unit that will audit fleets, do inspections, and issue citations if necessary. The agency is also working with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to help enforce the rule for vehicles coming from out of state,” the report continued.
As expected, trucker groups were against the new rule, arguing that it would make things more difficult for many truckers to operate amid supply chain shortages.
“One of the things that really affects us in trucking is CARB’s lack of wanting to deal with this issue,” said Joe Rajkovacz, director of government affairs for the Western States Trucking Association. “During the pandemic, truckers were viewed as heroes, truckers kept things rolling.”
Rajkovacz warned that the law may create another supply chain emergency.
“Many of us would have thought the consequences of California’s goods movements could be severe,” he said. “You can’t take that big of a percentage of the vehicles off the road, but with the slowdown in the economy, it remains to be seen what the impact will be.”
