House environment panel delays penalties under Clean Cars 2, pauses Advanced Clean Trucks enforcement

The House Environment and Transportation Committee voted to concur with Senate amendments to House Bill 15 56, moving language that delays parts of Maryland’s Advanced Clean Trucks implementation and narrows when penalties under the Clean Cars 2 program may be applied.

The bill, as amended and approved by the committee, prohibits the Maryland Department of the Environment from implementing the Advanced Clean Trucks program until MDE publishes a needs assessment and a deployment plan that meet conditions set in the amendments. The amended bill also narrows the circumstances under which MDE may apply enforcement or penalties to a motor vehicle manufacturer for failure to meet Clean Cars 2 requirements for model years 2027 and 2028.

Why it matters: the changes slow the timetable for truck electrification rules and give manufacturers a path to avoid penalties in the near term,…