Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles Set

Heavy-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Standards

Phase 3 standards build on EPA’s Heavy-Duty Phase 2 program from 2016 and maintain that program’s flexible structure, which reflects the diverse nature of the heavy-duty vehicle industry. The standards are said to be technology-neutral and performance-based, allowing each manufacturer to choose what set of emissions control technologies is best suited for them and the needs of their customers.

Available technologies include advanced internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. These new standards apply to heavy-duty vocational vehicles, such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, and public utility trucks. Also affected are transit, shuttle, and school buses and tractors, such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks.

Relative to the proposal, EPA’s final rule provides more time in the early model years of the program for the development of vehicle technologies and deployment of charging and refueling infrastructure. The final rule also includes flexibilities that will assist manufacturers in meeting the standards in the early years of the program while preserving incentives for early adoption of advanced technologies.