The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on August 5 plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants from heavy-duty trucks over the next three years.
The EPA said in a statement that by December 2022, it will propose and finalize new stringent emissions standards to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks beginning in model year 2027. The existing federal NOx standard has not been changed for two decades.
“This action will include an update of current greenhouse gas standards to capture market shifts to zero-emission technologies in certain segments of the heavy-duty vehicle sector,” the EPA said.
The agency said a second rule would set “more robust greenhouse gas emission standards” for new heavy-duty vehicles sold as soon as model year 2030 and beyond.
The agency’s plan, now known as the “Clean Trucks Plan,” will result in decreased emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles, including long-haul tractors, buses, commercial delivery trucks, and many other types of trucks.
President Joe Biden on August 5 also signed an executive order directed at cutting car and light-duty truck emissions, requiring that 50 percent of all such vehicles sold by 2030 be electric.
Click here to read the Clean Trucks Plan.