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Resource Library / Air Pollution / Cars and Trucks

Letter to President Biden About Setting Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Trucks, November 8, 2021

Letter

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Date: November 8, 2021

To: President Joseph R. Biden The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

cc: The Honorable Michael Regan, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
The Honorable Gina McCarthy, National Climate Advisor, The White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy

Dear President Biden:

On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our millions of members nationwide, we thank you for your historic August 5, 2021 Executive Order directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen American leadership on clean cars and trucks, including by setting standards that will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) emissions from on-road medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles across the nation.

We urge you and the EPA to move quickly to propose the most stringent emissions standards possible starting in model year 2027 that reflect the role of zero emission vehicles in reducing harmful pollution and that align with California’s Heavy Duty Low NOx Omnibus requirements and reflect zero emission vehicles deployed through the Advanced Clean Trucks rule. We urgently need cleaner heavy-duty vehicles on the road, especially in underserved communities that are overburdened with truck pollution due to their proximity to highways and high-traffic corridors. There is no time for delay.

We respectfully seek your leadership in ensuring that these forthcoming emission standards drive lower pollution from all fossil fuel powered heavy-duty vehicles with explicit regulatory focus on accelerating the transition to zero emission technologies. Importantly, this strategy should also help focus zero emission heavy-duty vehicle growth in the most polluted and populated urban areas, advancing the health and protection of communities.

Diesel trucks and buses are major contributors to NOx emissions, a potent precursor to the formation of ground-level ozone pollution, and fine particulate matter, which affect the health and well-being of millions of people in the U.S. Curbing these harmful emissions is crucial to improving air quality, saving lives, and addressing environmental injustice and the climate crisis.

The current federal NOx pollution standards for diesel heavy-duty vehicles have not changed in over 20 years. California has already shown that today’s heavy-duty engines are capable of substantial NOx emission reductions. And emissions reduction technologies are expected to improve even more by 2027. History and current technology developments show that

manufacturers are capable of stepping up and making vehicles that are significantly less toxic to our lungs, air, and water. The issue here is political and economic will. We urge the Administration to prioritize public health over industry calls for relaxed standards. Trucks have contributed a disproportionate amount of pollution in overburdened communities for far too long.

Freight corridors such as ports and railyards, warehouses, distribution centers, and truck stops are predominantly located in low-income communities and communities of color that are affected by the cumulative impact of air pollution from multiple mobile, commercial, and industrial sources. Eliminating emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, especially through a rapid transition to zero-emission vehicles, is essential for making strides toward desperately needed cleaner air in these communities and a safer climate.

We call for the Biden administration to ensure that the model year 2027-2029 NOx rule is as strong as possible and accelerates the adoption of the cleanest trucks feasible, including the zero emission heavy-duty vehicles that are at hand, made in America, and creating high quality jobs.

EPA can and must initiate a strong rulemaking that will quickly cut harmful emissions, meet the climate crisis, and protect the health of communities across the country while providing jobs and a stronger economy for all.

Thank you for your leadership.

Respectfully,
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
CALSTART
Center for Biological Diversity
Chispa LCV
Coltura Ecology Center
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Environmental Protection Network
EVHybridNoire
GreenLatinos
Interfaith Power & Light
League of Conservation Voters (LCV)
Moms Clean Air Force
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Plug In America
Sierra Club
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Southern Environmental Law Center
Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
Union of Concerned Scientists

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