May 15, 2025
What happened: On May 15, the Department of Environmental Quality announced a two-year delay in the enforcement of its Advanced Clean Trucks Rules, which require manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to ramp up the percentage of zero-emission vehicles sold in the state, beginning in 2025. The delay, announced in a memo from DEQ Director Leah Feldon, pushes enforcement out to the 2027 model year.
The underlying problem: The rules condition the continued sale of conventional, diesel trucks on the sale of zero-emission trucks (effectively, electric trucks) through a formula. While companies (including Portland-based Daimler Truck North America) are engaging heavily in the development of effective electric trucks, the reality is that there is virtually no market demand right now. At the moment, electric trucks cost far more than diesel trucks and haul far less for shorter distances before needing to be recharged. Plus, there are very few places to charge them. There is only one public, pull-through charging station in the entire state, which is located in Portland. The policy also fails to recognize alternative fuels like renewable diesel, which can be used in any conventional, diesel truck. During a Jan. 21 legislative hearing (see video to the right), Jordan Papé, president and CEO of the Eugene-based Papé Group, explained the limits of current electric truck technology, the impossibility of DEQ’s escalating sales mandate and, ultimately, the price impacts it would have on Oregonians.
The other underlying problem: As OBI’s Oregon Competitiveness Agenda points out, the state’s political culture undervalues the private sector, which leads to conduct by regulatory agencies like DEQ that “contributes to the decisions of businesses to sell, close or invest elsewhere.” Freight hauling is a mobile industry, and trucking companies could easily relocate to other states that don’t have mandates to buy electric trucks. The decision of DEQ and the Environmental Quality Commission to discount science, basic market forces and input from affected businesses in pursuit of an unworkable policy is the product of this political culture. OBI and member companies have been trying to explain the above realities to DEQ for years, but the agency pushed forward with a rule anyway and now finds itself in the position of needing to delay enforcement.
Business and legislative response: OBI and member companies like the Papé Group and Daimler Truck North America have worked for many months – both with DEQ and in the Legislature – to address the problems created by the Advanced Clean Trucks Rules, officially adopted in November 2021. OBI is particularly grateful for the support of legislators from both major parties who – only days before DEQ’s May 15 announcement – indicated a willingness to delay implementation by legislative action.
What’s next: OBI will continue to work with affected businesses, legislators and agency officials to adopt workable regulations that balance environmental protection, market realities and costs to businesses and consumers.