CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey is claiming victory after the State of California withdrew its request for a federal waiver to require commercial trucking companies to move to zero-emission vehicles.
The California Air Resources Board dropped the request filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on January 14.
"The withdrawal is an important step given the uncertainty presented by the incoming administration that previously attacked California's programs to protect public health and the climate and has said will continue to oppose those programs," CARB Chairwoman Liane Randolph said in a statement.
McCuskey
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McCuskey was part of a coalition of 24 state AGs led by Nebraska’s Mike Hilgers. Gov. Patrick Morrisey joined the coalition on behalf of West Virginia when he was attorney general.
“This is a big win for the nation’s trucking industry, the incredible men and women who power our supply chain and, for common sense,” McCuskey said in a press release. “This policy would have caused catastrophic job losses, increased costs, delayed shipments and would have devastated the demand for diesel, while putting a strain on the grid providing the energy that would be needed to power these electric trucks.
“The inauguration of President Trump can’t come soon enough so this nonsense radical climate agenda the Biden-Harris administration shoved down hardworking Americans’ throats would be a thing of the past.”
McCuskey said California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation attempted to impose an electric-truck mandate on fleet owners, operators, and manufacturers — including trucking companies that drive one truck for as little as one day per year in California. The coalition said the EPA and California were exceeding their statutory and regulatory authority trampling on states’ rights and disrupting the nation’s trucking and transportation industry.
The rule almost certainly would have been denied by the Trump administration. It would have set timelines for truck operators to switch to zero-emissions vehicles such as ones powered by electric batteries. Some of the timelines would have been set for 2035 while others were for 2042.
Last month, the EPA approved California’s plan to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035.
CARB also withdrew its request for locomotive and refrigeration unit rules it claims would sharply reduce emissions.
In the Mountain State, officials with the West Virginia Trucking Association say the trucking industry supports 34,360 jobs, and trucks transported 61 percent of total manufactured tonnage or 65,448 tons per day. Further, the WVTA says more than 84 percent of communities in the state depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods.
“Gov. Patrick Morrisey joined the coalition of incredible attorneys general to oppose this ridiculous rule, and I am proud to join Attorney General Hilgers of Nebraska and the other AGs to continue the fight with a pending lawsuit challenging this same regulation in court,” McCuskey said.
In September, Hilgers led the 24-state coalition in filing a formal comment letter with the EPA opposing California’s request. The group argued that the EPA should not allow California to exceed its statutory and regulatory authority by implementing an electric-vehicle mandate that is sure to disrupt the nation’s logistics and transportation industries.
Hilgers is leading a separate 17-state coalition in challenging Advanced Clean Fleets in the Eastern District of California. That litigation is pending.
“California does not have the legal authority to force the rest of the country to transition to electric trucks,” Hilgers said. “Our letter explained why California’s attempt to export its radical electric-truck mandate was unconstitutional, unlawful, and bad policy. This development is a win for the rule of law and freedom from unaccountable bureaucrats on both coasts.”