Changed Political Landscape Leads California to Abandon Electic Vehicle Mandate for Fleets

On January 13, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) withdrew a request for a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning its Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulations. The ACF seeks to achieve zero-emission heavy duty vehicle fleet in California by 2045 by implementing a phased transition of fleets to zero-emissions. The transition is set to start in 2025.

Because the ACF encroaches on the federal government’s regulatory power over setting emissions standards, pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act, a waiver is required for the ACF to take effect. Objectively, a waiver can be issued when the state standards “will be, in the aggregate, at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable Federal standards” and the EPA is satisfied that the standards are not arbitrary or capricious.

The withdrawal coincides with a changing of the guard of the executive administration. President Trump has vowed to reverse vehicle emission regulations enacted by former President Biden’s administration, which will presumably extend to this waiver.

Notably, there were no less than four federal lawsuits challenging the ACF before the announcement of the abandonment of the waiver. The fate of those cases, as well as the future applicability and enforcement of the ACF, remain uncertain.