WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reconsidering the Biden-Harris administration’s greenhouse emissions standards that are set to go into effect for model-year 2027 and later heavy-duty trucks. The agency is also reconsidering regulations for passenger vehicles and light- and medium-duty vehicles.
The announcement came Wednesday, March 12, in a press release from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. In addition to imposing more than $700 billion in regulatory and compliance costs and making it difficult for Americans to buy safe, affordable cars, Zeldin said the standards would increase the overall cost of living.
The EPA is also reevaluating other parts of the Biden-Harris “Clean Trucks Plan,” including the 2022 Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide rule, which “results in significant costs that will make the products our trucks deliver, like food and other household goods, more expensive.”
Members of the trucking industry were quick to applaud Zeldin’s actions.
AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS (ATA)
“We commend President Trump and EPA Administrator Zeldin for restoring common sense to our nation’s environmental laws and demonstrating bold leadership on this critical issue that affects not only the 8.5 million men and women who work in trucking, but all Americans,” said Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations.
“GHG3 in its current form is unachievable given the state of battery-electric technology and the sheer lack of charging infrastructure,” he continued, describing the rule as “an albatross for the trucking industry” because of the increased costs for motor carriers and supply chain disruptions that would ultimately increase consumer costs.
Realistic, achievable standards and deadlines are vital to the reduction of pollution caused by heavy-duty trucks, Spear noted, pointing to progress made since the 1980s.
“Sixty trucks today emit the same amount as one truck manufactured in 1988,” he said.
“The trucking industry welcomes the resumption of this productive partnership with EPA,” Spear said. “Crafting a new national rule will prevent states like California from attempting to make an end run around the administration, creating a patchwork of impossible mandates that would jeopardize our economy.”
CLEAN FREIGHT COALITION (CFC)
A statement from the CFC also applauded the Trump administration’s actions and the EPA’s decision to reconsider emissions standards for commercial transport.
“The trucking industry has made significant improvements on tailpipe emissions over the last several decades, and we will work with the (Trump) administration on reasonable and achievable solutions that continue to deliver cleaner commercial vehicles moving forward,” said Jim Mullen, executive director of the CFC.
“We will also continue to advocate for a national regulatory framework that is technology neutral and achieves the greatest benefit for the environment without unnecessarily burdening the industry, the economy and all consumers of goods in our country,” he concluded.
TRUCKLOAD CARRIERS ASSOCIATION (TCA)
In an emailed statement, TCA voiced support for Zeldin’s reconsideration of the EPA’s Phase 3 final rule regarding greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks and promise to review nitrogen oxides regulations.
“TCA fully supports this reconsideration, recognizing the progress in advocating for practical and achievable emissions standards,” the statement noted. “As a founding member of the Clean Freight Coalition, TCA has worked diligently to ensure that federal emissions policies reflect real-world operational and economic considerations.”
TCA’s statement pointed to the group’s support of efforts to withdraw the heavy-duty trucks emissions rule by Sen. Mark Crapo (R-ID) and Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) during the last Congressional session.
“This reconsideration underscores the effectiveness of TCA’s advocacy and the collective efforts of the Clean Freight Coalition,” the statement said. “TCA remains committed to actively engaging in this process to ensure that emissions regulations strike a balance between environmental progress and the trucking industry’s operational realities.”
OWNER-OPERATOR INDEPENDENT DRIVERS ASSOCIATION (OOIDA)
Todd Spencer, president of OOIDA — an organization representing 150,000 small-business truckers — said the group welcomes the EPA’s decision to review emissions standards.
“Small-business truckers make up 96% of trucking and could be regulated out of existence if the current standards were to be implemented,” he said. “Mom-and-pop trucking businesses would be suffocated by the sheer cost and operational challenges of effectively mandating zero emission trucks.”
Spencer also noted that reliable, affordable commercial trucks are vital to the operations of the association’s members.
“We have yet to see proof that electric CMVs (commercial motor vehicles) are a practical option for most trucking businesses considering the price tag and lack of charging infrastructure,” he said.
Opposition to the EPA’s decision
While members of the trucking industry have so far voiced support for rolling back greenhouse gas emissions and nitrous oxide rules, other groups were quick to dissent.
Environmentalists and climate scientists call the endangerment finding a bedrock of U.S. law and say any attempt to undo it will have little chance of success, according to a report from The Associated Press.
“In the face of overwhelming science, it’s impossible to think that the EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court,” said David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.
University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann called the EPA’s action “just the latest form of Republican climate denial. They can no longer deny climate change is happening, so instead they’re pretending it’s not a threat, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that it is, perhaps, the greatest threat that we face today.”
What’s next?
The Associated Press report also offered insights into Zeldin’s plans.
“We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age,’’ Zeldin wrote in an essay in “The Wall Street Journal.”
Zeldin believes the EPA’s actions will eliminate trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and “hidden taxes,” lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices for such essentials such as buying a car, heating your home and operating a business.
“Our actions will also reignite American manufacturing, spreading economic benefits to communities,” he noted.
“This isn’t about abandoning environmental protection — it’s about achieving it through innovation and not strangulation,” Zeldin wrote. “By reconsidering rules that throttled oil and gas production and unfairly targeted coal-fired power plants, we are ensuring that American energy remains clean, affordable, and reliable.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Linda Garner-Bunch has been in publishing for more than 30 years. You name it, Linda has written about it. She has served as an editor for a group of national do-it-yourself publications and has coordinated the real estate section of Arkansas’ only statewide newspaper, in addition to working on a variety of niche publications ranging from bridal magazines to high-school sports previews and everything in between. She is also an experienced photographer and copy editor who enjoys telling the stories of the “Knights of the Highway,” as she calls our nation’s truck drivers.
