EV truck sale mandates for Massachusetts cities and towns delayed

The state DEP is delaying enforcement of minimum electric truck sales requirements a move cheered by cities and towns but condemned by clean vitality and environmental advocates Under the Advanced Clean Trucks ACT regulation that Massachusetts adopted following California s lead in medium- and heavy-duty bus manufacturers are required to produce and make available for sale a gradually-increasing percentage of zero-emission vehicles ZEVs starting in model year MassDEP disclosed particular truck manufacturers have noted the sales requirements are too formidable to meet and municipalities have sounded the alarm about the limited supply of clean trucks that are available to comply with the state s lower-emissions standards The DEP noted that it will exercise enforcement discretion by not taking enforcement action against manufacturers that do not meet their Model Year or Model Year sales requirements as long as those manufacturers continue to provide internal combustion vehicles to distributors While manufacturers were involved in progressing the ACT framework they now indicate that ACT requirements are too laborious to meet Particular manufacturers are limiting ICE truck sales as a means to ensure their compliance with ACT sales requirements reducing availability to a wide range of users MassDEP explained Further the current federal administration has created major uncertainty around ZEV incentives charging investments manufacturing and tariffs each of which threaten a smooth transition to medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs DEP s announcement was hammered by Sierra Club Massachusetts which announced the action will delay soundness benefits to millions of Bay Staters as part of a deliberate national effort by manufacturers to create a false compliance dilemma to stall progress on the shift to clean vehicles Diesel trucks are a medical peril Massachusetts cannot willfully ignore Vick Mohanka Sierra Club Massachusetts s director declared Delaying the transition to cleaner more efficient trucks is misguided and will have a detrimental impact on the well-being of our local communities Review after evaluation shows the devastating impact of highly emitting diesel trucks especially to infants young children Truck manufacturers must be held accountable for their attempts to obstruct the necessary transition to cleaner trucks that lower fuel costs and emissions Adam Chapdelaine executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association narrated lawmakers last month municipalities were worried about their ability to buy the trucks necessary to plow roads collect trash and more as manufacturers focused on their EV sales mandates He declared Monday that municipalities appreciate DEP s recognition of the sphere forces that are impacting the ACT initiative Local leaders feel the direct impacts of surroundings change and share the Commonwealth s commitment to reducing emissions but also must balance the realities of tight municipal budgets and the need to reliably provide essential services to residents he disclosed Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance called on Beacon Hill to fully rework the mandates The DEP s decision to delay enforcement of the Advanced Clean Trucks ACT mandate is a step in the right direction but a delay is not a answer Unless Massachusetts replaces rigid context mandates with realistic goal-based policies we ll be right back in this same situation facing limited supply higher costs and major disruptions declared Paul Diego Craney Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance