Washington – American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to allow California to move forward with a damaging and unrealistic emissions rule will harm the industry nationwide.
“By granting California’s waiver for its so-called ‘advanced clean trucks’ rule, the EPA is handing over the keys as a national regulator,” Spear said. “This isn’t the United States of California, and in order to mollify a never satisfied fringe environmental lobby by allowing the state to proceed with these technologically infeasible rules on unworkable and unrealistic timelines, the EPA is sowing the ground for a future supply chain crisis.
“As we learned since the pandemic, our supply chain is fragile, and even small disruptions can cause huge problems nationally and globally, and by allowing this incredibly disruptive, ill-conceived regime to move forward, EPA is creating a terrible mess for the hard-working men and women of our industry and the country to clean up,” he said.
“We have, and will continue to work tirelessly with the EPA on aggressive, achievable timelines for reducing emissions. Over the past 35 years, that collaboration has produced a 98% reduction in truck emissions,” Spear said. “We continue to be committed to the path to zero, and we hope EPA will, as it becomes clear that California’s rhetoric is not being matched by technology, reverse course and create a single, achievable national standard.”