CTA, ATA ask CARB to Modify Proposed Clean Trucks Rule Amid Economic Crisis

 

In written comments submitted to the ARB Board last week, CTA and ATA asked the Board to recognize the new reality that has developed over the past few months as the coronavirus has irrefutably changed the world. The letter requests the Board direct ARB staff to evaluate how these changes will impact the amended requirements of the proposed Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Rule and identify options for responding. “While the full scope of the economic impact from this sudden, unplanned shuttering of large swaths of commerce is yet to be fully understood, there are some clear warning signs already emerging,” the letter says; including that 38.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment since March; while California truck activity and freight demand spiked in March, ATRI shows a steady decline in both rates and demand; furloughs will occur as a result of declining revenues; and IHS estimates that 2020 Class 8 tractor sales will fall by 50% compared to 2019. How quickly the economy recovers is dependent upon many factors that cannot be easily predicted at this time and California’s revised budget, which forecasts a $54 million+ deficit through the 2020-2021 fiscal year, does not prioritize funding for ZEVs. Considering the imminent economic recession, the burdens on all businesses as they struggle to stay afloat in the aftermath of the pandemic, and the lack of ZEV incentive funding in the revised budget, CTA and ATA requested that the ARB Board and staff reevaluate their recent modifications to the ACT which increase the already ambitious ZEV sales goals.