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House rejects efforts to delay or repeal Advanced Clean Cars II regulations
Summary
The Massachusetts House declined multiple amendments that sought to delay or repeal the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC 2) rules, rejecting a two-year pause and overturn attempts to bring a repeal before the chamber.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives on the floor declined several amendments that would have delayed or repealed the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC 2) regulations, which require steadily increasing percentages of new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).
Representative Meridian of Grafton proposed amendment 15-61, which would have delayed ACC 2 rulemaking until 2027. Meridian said the transition to ZEVs was a “notable” goal but that the “mandate of 35% for model year ’26 and moving to 100% by model year 2035 is simply not realistic here in the Commonwealth.” He urged a two-year pause so manufacturers and dealers could “catch up to these burdensome regulations.” The House voted that amendment down; the clerk announced “the nays have it” and the amendment was not adopted.
Representative Lombardo of Billerica later offered a separate amendment that would have repealed the ACC 2-based rules. The chair sustained a point of order that the repeal question was improper because the House had already voted on a postponement; the chair ruled the repeal amendment was “laid aside accordingly.” Lombardo sought a roll call to overrule the chair. On roll call number 44, the chamber recorded 31 in the affirmative and 25 in the negative; the chair’s ruling stood, keeping the repeal amendment off the floor.
A subsequent Lombardo amendment that sought similar changes to ACC 2 was brought to a roll call. Roll call number 45 recorded 21 in the affirmative and 134 in the negative; the amendment was not adopted.
Members who spoke on the floor framed the debate around readiness and costs. Meridian and Lombardo argued dealers, consumers and charging infrastructure are not prepared for the mandated transition; Lombardo described the House’s climate roadmap as a “goal, not a mandate” and urged flexibility to avoid higher energy costs for families and small businesses. Representative Cusack of Braintree urged colleagues to affirm the chair’s ruling on subject matter, saying the earlier debate had already addressed the same policy ground.
No formal change to the ACC 2 regulations was enacted during the session; the House’s actions left the existing transition timetable in place.
