Environmentalists and trucking industry advocates are at odds over legislation that would delay by two years a new environmental rule that’s intended to reduce diesel pollution. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
Two state lawmakers want to delay a new environmental rule targeting trucks that is meant to cut diesel pollution in New Jersey and accelerate the trucking industry’s transition to electric vehicles, but the bill might face roadblocks from the governor’s office.
Sen. Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) and Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese (D-Bergen) introduced legislation last week that would postpone for two years the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which was adopted in December 2021 and is set to take effect Jan. 1.
The rule, which is modeled after California regulations, requires manufacturers to sell zero-emission trucks and other vehicles heavier than 8,500 pounds as an increasing percentage of their annual sales over the next decade. By 2035, it will require 40% to 75% of a manufacturer’s annual sales to be electric, depending on the type of vehicle sold.
Diegnan and Calabrese say there’s not enough highway electric infrastructure to handle all the large vehicles that will need charging stations, and electric vehicles cost so much that shoppers will head to neighboring states for gas models.
“Everybody’s in favor of the goal. But we have 1,200 charging stations in the state of New Jersey, most of which are not available for trucks. What will happen is everybody’s going to be buying their trucks in Pennsylvania,” Diegnan said. “Obviously, we don’t want to abandon the goal, but we have to make it realistic. We don’t want reasonable people to oppose the goal because the imposition is unreasonable.”
Two years shouldn’t greatly impact the state’s green goals, Calabrese added.
“If I would have said a decade, you could be upset. But two years really isn’t a long time, and it’s just so the industry can get a little bit of a leg up here,” Calabrese said.
Gov. Phil Murphy, whose green agenda is a key mission of his administration, doesn’t support a delay, a spokeswoman told the New Jersey Monitor.
“While the Governor’s Office does not comment on pending legislation, we remain committed to the implementation of Advanced Clean Trucks on its current timeline,” spokeswoman Natalie Hamilton said.
Diegnan remains undeterred, though, and two more legislators — Sen. Doug Steinhardt (R-Warren) and Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak (D-Middlesex) — have signed on to the bills since they were introduced.
“The governor’s goal is obviously correct. We all want clean energy. But in this particular case, it’s simply impossible. I think the governor is a reasonable person. I’m sure when he sees all the facts, he’ll adjust accordingly,” Diegnan said. “Again, we’re not destroying it. We’re just basically giving it more time to be put in place.”
Concerns about lungs and ‘local economic collapse’
If the bill does see a hearing — Diegnan said nothing’s scheduled yet — there’s likely to be fierce debate between environmentalists and the trucking industry.
Environmentalists warn that a two-year delay would ensure countless new diesel trucks with decades-long service lives get deployed, worsening air pollution in a state with more highway per square mile than any other state in the country.
“Since the pandemic, we’ve seen continued growth in the warehouse economy, which is obviously a huge environmental issue. The amount of truck traffic on our roads in every county in the state has increased. So this problem has gotten worse, and it’s even more important that we have an electrification plan in place,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “The impact of diesel fumes might not show up on the balance sheet for trucking companies, but it certainly shows up in the lungs of New Jersey residents.”
Besides, he added, the transition has a “modest” start and a decade-long ramp-up.
“We are not going to suddenly have a fully electric truck fleet overnight or even in this decade,” O’Malley said.
Truck dealers say no one wants to — or has to — buy electric trucks, so the mandate is setting the industry up for a “local economic collapse.”
“They’re very expensive. They’re three to three and a half times the cost of internal combustion engine diesel trucks,” said Joe Cambria, who owns Cambria Truck Centers, a heavy-duty truck dealer in Elizabeth and Edison.
Electric trucks weigh about 8,000 pounds more than diesel models, so trucks won’t be able to haul as much, and without enough charging infrastructure and limited battery life, they won’t be able to travel as far, Cambria added. That means more trucks will hit the road to keep up with cargo demands, he said.
Without a rule delay, Cambria said, he could go out of business.
“I mean, we’ll try to morph into something else. We’ll become just a parts and service facility and maybe a used truck facility,” he said.
Cambria won’t be the only company hurt, warned Eric DeGesero, a lobbyist for the New Jersey Motor Truck Association. The logistics industry is a $20 billion industry in New Jersey, he said.
The state’s electric infrastructure must expand, electric vehicle technology must evolve, and electric trucks must become more affordable before the new rule can be implemented successfully, Cambria and DeGesero said.
“The trucking industry doesn’t care if the truck runs on lemonade or if it runs on air. We need something that efficiently and cost-effectively allows us to move the nation’s freight, which keeps the American economy going, and that’s what we’re putting in jeopardy with this,” DeGesero said.
Progress made
Diegnan’s bill came a week after regulators in Massachusetts and Oregon announced delays to similar regulations.
Environmentalists accused the truck lobby of acting as a “cartel” to pressure policymakers nationally to delay or reject the regulations to protect profits at the expense of public health and climate progress.
Melissa Miles, executive director of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, said any delay would hurt communities like Camden and Newark that are near ports and already are disproportionately hurt by pollution.
“The technology exists to clean up truck pollution. We just need our legislators to use their power to protect our communities, not roll back vital clean air policies,” Miles said.
And despite concerns that New Jersey isn’t ready for the rule, there’s been some recent progress.
The state Board of Public Utilities announced last week the adoption of minimum filing requirements, which direct privately owned electric utilities to propose programs to expand charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and fleets.
The same day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a federal grant of almost $250 million to expand charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty trucks along the Interstate-95 freight corridor.
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