Trade Associations Sue California Agency
NTEA (The Work Truck Association) and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) filed suit in U.S. District Court against the California Air Resources Board, seeking immediate declaratory and injunctive relief to stop electric vehicle mandates that the board intends to implement through its Advanced Clean Fleets regulations. The organizations contend that the board’s actions far exceed California’s constitutional and state statutory authority and will have a dire effect on an industry that historically has led the way toward cleaner, safer vehicles through innovation and American ingenuity – particularly through alternative-fuel innovations, replacing older engine technologies with newer, cleaner versions, and converting older internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to new electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The California board (CARB) ACF regulation includes requirements that only zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) may cross within California’s borders, regardless of which state the vehicle was purchased or registered. Vehicles covered by the regulation include everything from heavy-duty tractors with sleeper cabs to work trucks, pickup trucks, and light-duty package delivery vehicles. Interstate motor carriers and others who do not own CARB’s vehicle of choice would be barred from operating within the nation’s largest single-state economy for even a moment. This issue is currently under consideration by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, whose waiver is necessary for the state to proceed.
NTEA and SEMA are filing the lawsuit on behalf of their members who own and operate fleets of vehicles regulated by the ACF regulations, or manufacture, market, and sell specialty vehicles, trucks, and automotive aftermarket products that may become obsolete in California and other markets if CARB is allowed to proceed in decreeing an end to internal combustion engine vehicles.