Lawsuit Over Calif. Emission Standards

A truck manufacturing group is suing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in a bid to delay a costly revamp to emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

The Engine Manufacturers Association filed the suit May 27 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The document claims that a recent CARB requirement that heavy-duty engines employ new technology to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions violates federal law.

In its suit, the EMA also states that manufacturers “are being compelled to spend substantial resources now in order to plan for and try to obtain CARB certification” to sell vehicles in California.

The CARB emissions policy, which was adopted in December 2021, applies to new trucks sold after Dec. 31, 2023. This means that heavy-duty engine manufacturers only have a two-year lead time to comply, according to the lawsuit.

Clean Air Act Conflict?

EMA is asking the court to declare the model year 2024 deadline invalid because it allegedly conflicts with a provision in the Clear Air Act. The provision at issue requires California to abide by the same four-year lead time that applies to federal emissions standards adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency for new heavy-duty engines and vehicles.

The Clean Air Act also requires any EPA standards for new heavy-duty vehicles or engines to apply no earlier than the model year beginning four years after the standards were put into effect, according to the lawsuit.

The suit states Congress determined that the heavy-duty engine manufacturing and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing industries are not fully integrated, meaning these manufacturers require more lead time between changes in emissions standards “not only to afford them more time to develop, integrate, and implement new emission-control technology, but also to ensure that they can recover their capital investments that enable the development of those technologies.”