Oregon, Vermont Halt Zero-Emission Truck Mandates
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Two states have halted implementation of laws modeled after California’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule in the wake of stakeholder pushback and shifting regulatory and legislative winds.
In the span of a few days, leaders in both Oregon and Vermont reversed plans to limit sales of diesel-powered trucks in favor of electric trucks in their states. The Oregon program affected 2025 model year trucks, while Vermont’s plan was set to launch with the 2026 model year.
The California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulations, promulgated in 2021, force makers of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to sell progressively higher numbers of zero-emission vehicles yearly beginning with the 2024 model year. The law calls for ultimately banning sales of new diesel trucks by 2036.
Both moves were welcomed by stakeholders.
“I am pleased to see that Oregon recognizes the significance of the ACT issue,” said Jana Jarvis, CEO of the Oregon Trucking Association. “This pause is necessary and it will give time for the market for electric trucks to mature.”
Jarvis and others since last year have warned state lawmakers about the potential negative effects of Oregon’s January implementation of ACT. The regulation compelled some truck manufacturers to either pause or limit sales of new diesel trucks there.
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A bill introduced in the statehouse to delay enforcement until Jan. 1, 2027, failed. But in May, state Department of Environmental Quality Director to the Office of Compliance and Enforcement that immediately stopped ACT enforcement and noncompliance penalties for makers of model year 2025 and 2026 medium-duty and Class 8 vehicles if manufacturers demonstrate good faith zero-emission efforts and submit required sales and compliance reports.
“New truck market dynamics in Oregon are not functioning properly,” Feldon said. “The preferred compliance strategy of manufacturers not delivering internal combustion engine trucks to Oregon’s market to avoid accruing any deficits is failing to meet the needs of dealers and fleets implementation.”
State Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis (R) . “DEQ has chosen to take the common-sense step of giving certainty to countless Oregon businesses and workers whose livelihoods have been staring down the barrel of a loaded gun for months now. They can breathe a sigh of relief today.”
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She added, “The lack of sufficient charging infrastructure, the limited range and payload of current electric trucks, and the high costs have always made the ACT rules unrealistic.”
In Vermont, an executive order halting ACT implementation in his state through Dec. 31, 2026. The order puts a stay on to meet earlier EV targets and lifts prohibitions on the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines. The order stressed that the targets shifted the burden of compliance to car and truck dealers and maintained that there have been “insufficient technological advances in heavy-duty vehicles for these regulatory requirements to meet current goals.”
“We’re hearing from the manufacturers and what they are doing to the dealers. They’re forcing the dealers to take some of the EVs and the dealers aren’t able to sell them,” Scott said. “I think we have to be practical here. We have to allow the technology to catch up. We have to allow for the charging infrastructure to catch up. We want to make sure that we weren’t impacting our economy and I think we are. Every state isn’t impacted by this, only those of us who are tied to the California standard there.”
Meantime, Washington Trucking Associations is urging state regulators there to follow the lead of Oregon and Vermont by suspending ACT enforcement there.
“Washington state is ignoring the reality of EV trucking, barreling ahead with California’s ACT regulations when there are clear implementation challenges,” said WTA president and CEO Sheri Call. “Charging infrastructure for heavy duty EV trucks is virtually nonexistent in Washington, and Oregon’s delayed implementation means I-5 truckers in the Northwest will have minimal charging options. There is no state or federal funding for heavy duty EV truck charging, either. So now Washington has become an outlier, to the detriment of our supply chain and trade-based economy. You cannot force heavy duty EV trucks into widespread existence.”
