Lawmakers weigh delay of Advanced Clean Trucks rule as industry and health groups clash

Lawmakers weigh delay of Advanced Clean Trucks rule as industry and health groups clash

The House Committee on Climate, Energy, and Environment on Thursday heard competing testimony on House Bill 3,119, a bipartisan measure that would prohibit the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality from implementing or enforcing the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation before Jan. 1, 2027. The bill seeks a two-year pause to allow more time for vehicle availability, charging infrastructure and other program supports, proponents said; opponents argued a delay would prolong diesel pollution and harm public health.

DEQ Director Leah Feldon and Rachel Takata, DEQ’s transportation section manager, briefed the committee on the rule’s purpose and current implementation status. Feldon said DEQ is monitoring changes at the federal level and multistate coordination and “takes concerns over this issue very seriously.” Takata told lawmakers that transportation accounts for roughly 35% of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions and that medium- and heavy-duty trucks emit about 9.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually. She described the ACT rule — adopted by California in 2020 and by Oregon’s Environmental Quality Commission in 2021 — as a manufacturer-focused sales standard that requires increasing percentages of zero-emission or near-zero vehicles in annual sales starting in the 2025 model year.

Takata summarized key design elements of the…