Approximately 200,000 trucks and buses have been banned from California roads effective January 1, 2023, to comply with a rule enforced as part of emissions regulations laws introduced in 2008.
Senate Bill 1 stipulates that diesel vehicles weighing over 14,000 lbs and built before 2010 are banned from operating on roads in California as of January 1, 2023. This rule impacts around 200,000 trucks and buses, of which approximately 70,000 are big rigs.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) notes that exceptions to the rule will only be made for vehicles that have had their engine replaced with one manufactured after 2010, in addition to vehicles that travel less than 1,000 miles a year. CARB’s enforcement unit will conduct audits of commercial fleets to ensure compliance with the rule while the DMV will start to deny registrations to non-compliant trucks and buses, SF Gate reports.
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Senate Bill 1 specifies that “the department shall refuse registration, or renewal or transfer of registration, for a diesel-fueled vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 14,001 pounds to 26,000 pounds.”
“Diesel exhaust is responsible for 70% of the cancer risk from airborne toxics,” CARB states. “Therefore, by January 1, 2023, nearly all trucks and buses will be required to have 2010 or newer model year engines to reduce particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions.”
Most bus and truck fleet operators in California have taken all the necessary steps to achieve compliance. Indeed, some 1.58 million vehicles have already been fitted with engines built after 2010.
CARB has proposed a new plan to remove all gas and diesel truck fleets from Californian roads by 2045 and to replace them with zero-emission alternatives.
This proposal hasn’t gone over well with the trucking industry.
“You can’t take that big of a percentage of the vehicles off the road,” director of government affairs for the Western States Trucking Assocation, Joe Rajkovacz, said. “With the slowdown in the economy, it remains to be seen what the impact will be.”
