© Getty ImagesExceptions to the rule include vehicles that travel less than 1,000 miles a year.
A set of clean air regulations implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2008, and later signed into law as Senate Bill 1, states that any diesel vehicles weighing over 14,000 pounds and built before 2010 are banned from operating on California roads as of Jan. 1, 2023.
Comment: Whilst California is concerned about air quality meanwhile the number of people living in tent cities grows, overdose deaths surge, violent crime soars, and former citizens feel forced to flee: The exodus from 'liberal' US cities is accelerating, new census data shows
"Diesel exhaust is responsible for 70% of the cancer risk from airborne toxics," CARB states on its site. "Therefore, by January 1, 2023, nearly all trucks and buses will be required to have 2010 or newer model year engines to reduce particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions."
The agency estimates that around 200,000 vehicles, including 70,000 big rig trucks, do not comply with the rule and will be prohibited from operating in the state, according to KCRA. Exceptions to the rule will be made for vehicles that have replaced their engine with one manufactured after 2010, and vehicles that travel less that 1,000 miles a year. The law will be enforced by DMV denying registrations to non-compliant trucks and buses, and CARB's enforcement unit will conduct audits of commercial fleets that may result in citations.
The board said in a memo that most bus and truck fleet owners in the state have already taken the necessary steps to achieve compliance, with 1.58 million vehicles getting fitted with upgraded, post-2010 engines.
An even more ambitious plan was recently proposed by CARB to remove all gas and diesel truck fleets from the state's roads by 2045 and replace them with zero-emission vehicles. The proposed Advance Clean Fleets regulation first targets the busiest trucking areas in the state — around warehouses, sea ports and railways — that the board says disproportionately affect Black and Brown, low-income and vulnerable communities.
The trucking industry has largely pushed back on ban, especially in light of recent supply-chain issues across the country.
"You can't take that big of a percentage of the vehicles off the road," Joe Rajkovacz, director of government affairs for the Western States Trucking Association, told KCRA. "With the slowdown in the economy, it remains to be seen what the impact will be."
Others have said that the move to zero-emission vehicles for all fleets is logistically unfeasible. "This will do damage to us. We don't really understand how to charge these vehicles," construction company CEO Jaimie Angus said in a recent hearing on the proposed clean fleet regulation. "Those pieces of equipment go home with those men every day, so they'll need to be charged from home? How do you compensate that person for that?"
CARB say that the yearslong push to remove smog-spewing old diesel engines from the state's roads is essential to provide clean air to Californians.
"As heavy-duty on-road vehicles are such a significant source of pollutants, the Truck and Bus Regulation is one of the most far-reaching and important tools to reduce smog-forming and toxic emissions and protect public health in disadvantaged communities," the board wrote.
Comment: California may achieve its goal of reducing smog, somewhat, meanwhile the rest of the US that relies on these trucks will either be forced to go pay more for the products once alternative, more costly, routes are found, or simply have to go without; and some of these supplies may serve a critical function that, when removed, will wreak havoc on people's lives.
We're already seeing the warnings signs of another, even greater, disruption of the supply chain: