The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission approved two new rules last month that further the push toward electric trucks in the state.
The new “Clean Trucks Rule” requires manufacturers of medium and heavy-duty vehicles to sell a certain percentage of zero emissions electric vehicles starting with the 2025 model year.
“Today’s decision is a monumental step forward for cleaner air in Oregon,” says Richard Whitman, director of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), in a prepared statement. “Signaling that Oregon is open for business for zero emissions trucks is an important part of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and diesel pollution, particularly for communities located near our highways and rail yards.”
The Clean Trucks Rule adopts California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Rule and Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus rules (HD Omnibus). Under the ACT Rule, Oregon requires medium- and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers to sell zero-emission vehicles as a certain percentage of sales, beginning with the 2025 vehicle model year. The HD Omnibus rules strengthen nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emission standards for new truck engines (both diesel and non-diesel engines), in addition to other requirements for these engines. Together, the rules will not only ensure new diesel trucks are as clean as possible, they also put Oregon on a path towards a zero-carbon transportation future.
“Transportation accounts for approximately 40 percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon and trucks are among Oregon’s fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and rising,” says Rachel Sakata, DEQ’s senior air quality planner. “In Oregon, heavy-duty trucks and buses are responsible for nearly 23 percent of total transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions.”
Source: State of Oregon
