Colorado Advocates Urge Air Quality Control Commission to Act on Clean Truck Rules

Colorado advocacy groups representing health, labor, environmental justice, social justice, environmental, small business, and other sectors are urging the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) to begin working now on new rules for clean trucks.

These new rules would strengthen emissions standards in Colorado and help the state meet its commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Here’s the letter they sent:

Air Quality Control Commission

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

4300 Cherry Creek Drive South, EDO-AQCC-A5

Denver, CO 80246-1530

Re: Advanced Clean Trucks Rulemaking

Air Quality Control Commission:

These comments are submitted on behalf of a broad-based group of health, labor, environmental justice, social justice, environmental, small business, and other advocates who care deeply about our state. We urge the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) to begin the formal rulemaking process to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and Heavy-Duty Omnibus (Omnibus) rules as soon as possible. The rulemaking is currently scheduled for some time 2022, but given the recent openings in the AQCC calendar and the state’s decision to not pursue greenhouse gas reductions in the Employee Traffic Reduction Program, we feel the time is right to take this critical step forward and introduce the rulemaking in November 2021 for a final vote in February 2022.

The ACT rule requires manufacturers to produce an increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks each year. The complementary Omnibus rule strengthens emission standards on new fossil fuel-powered heavy-duty engines. Both rules will help Colorado meet its statutory greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction deadlines and improve air quality throughout the state, particularly in disproportionately-impacted communities. 

The climate crisis necessitates bold action now

Colorado is still not on track to achieve the reductions in greenhouse gas pollution required under HB19-1261. Transportation accounts for the largest share of GHG emissions and a significant source of other toxic pollution in our state, and emissions from this sector are rising. Millions of Colorado residents are suffering the damaging effects of living with unhealthy air quality.  Additionally, the AQCC announced a full “withdrawal of proposal” for its proposed Employee Trip Reduction Program (ETRP) on July 21st, 2021. Although the AQCC has proposed a sector specific approach to meeting its climate targets, with this withdrawal the division is now pursuing no rules in 2021 to address emissions from transportation—Colorado’s highest emitting sector. This rule withdrawal takes away a potentially critical policy tool, and also heightens the need for Colorado to pursue ACT and Omnibus trucking rules to reduce transportation sector emissions as soon as the AQCC calendar permits. Fortunately, Colorado signed onto the Medium and Heavy-Duty Zero Emissions Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in July 2020. This is in line with the state’s GHG Roadmap, which names truck electrification as a key goal: “By 2050, very high levels of electrification of vehicles will be needed, with nearly 100% of all cars on the road being electric and a 100% market share for zero emissions trucks among new sales.” The Roadmap touts exploration of “regulatory strategies such as fleet rules or the Advanced Clean Truck rule.” 

Every year, we grow more familiar with the destructive impacts of climate change and poor air quality. Every year, records are broken — massive wildfires and life-threatening heat waves. It could not be more clear that the time to act is now. We must create concrete, durable mechanisms that accelerate transportation electrification and encourage deployment of zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles.

Public health and environmental justice 

ACT and the Omnibus rule are critical to environmental justice. Freight-adjacent communities are overwhelmingly low-income and populated by Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. They are disproportionately impacted not only by transportation, but air pollution from the industrial sector, oil and gas, and more — a cumulative legacy of environmental violence that is long overdue for corrective action. In the Denver Metro area, medium and heavy-duty vehicles contribute 24.3% of on-road NOx emissions despite accounting for less than 2% of vehicle miles traveled. Diesel pollution also contains fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which can contribute to respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, cancer, premature death, and increased likelihood of death from COVID-19.

A commitment to environmental justice means changing the way we develop policy. With the draft Climate Equity Framework, the state is moving in that direction, but we need a greater shift in decision-making power to achieve true equity. Community members and their representatives must have adequate representation at stakeholder tables, and enough influence to ensure that their needs and recommendations are integrated into key policies. The AQCC must engage in multiple methods of outreach to proactively inform communities of rulemaking activities and offer opportunities for involvement from citizens, community-based organizations, environmental justice advocates, and other community leaders. Their input should be directly incorporated into the rulemaking language, and these groups must have a significant, meaningful role in implementation.

Clean jobs and savings

There are significant economic benefits from the ACT and Omnibus rules.  Both will send a strong market signal, stimulate investments, support clean high-quality technology jobs, and lead to increased zero-emission truck availability in the Rocky Mountain West, where market options are currently limited. With complementary policies to promote fair wages and benefits, this will result in well-paying jobs across the supply chain, including manufacturing of EVs, installation of charging stations, and operations and maintenance in the trucking and logistics industries. 

The most common claim repeated by the opposition is that the cost exceeds the benefits. This is false from multiple perspectives. Zero-emission trucks provide savings to fleets: many trucks are already cost-competitive on a total cost of ownership basis; larger vehicles are expected to achieve parity by 2025, and heavy-duty long-haul vehicles are expected to achieve parity by 2030 — even without incentives. This is largely due to fuel savings and anticipated lower maintenance costs. The upfront price of vehicles is also expected to continue to decline significantly as battery prices decline. Adopting the ACT will only further that trend by increasing supply and improving economies of scale.

Colorado can lead the way 

ACT will strengthen Colorado’s status as a leader in clean transportation. MOU signatories that have already adopted or begun the formal ACT rulemaking and Omnibus rule process now include California, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and Massachusetts. In order to maximize benefits and ease the transition into the ACT’s sales requirements, Colorado should act now and capitalize on the economic opportunities that will be presented to early adopters. Given the slow rate of vehicle turnover, any delay in moving forward will compound the challenges in achieving the required GHG reductions in our most critical sector.

For these reasons, the undersigned groups strongly encourage the Air Quality Control Commission to begin a rulemaking process as soon as possible to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Omnibus regulations. We call upon our elected leaders to meet the urgency of the moment and put Colorado on a path to a clean and equitable transportation system.

Thank you for your consideration of our comments, and we look forward to a strong and collaborative rulemaking.

Sincerely, 

350 Colorado

Businesses for a Livable Climate

Call to Action Colorado

CatholicNetwork US

CLEER 

Climate Reality Project

CO Businesses for a Livable Climate

Colorado AFL-CIO

Colorado BlueGreen Alliance

Colorado Latino Forum

Colorado Sierra Club

Colorado State Conference of Electrical Workers

Conservation Colorado

Dream Corps Green For All

E2 – Environmental Entrepreneurs

Energy Outreach Colorado

Environmental Defense Fund

Good Business Colorado

GreenLatinos

Healthy Air and Water Colorado (HAWC)

Lightning eMotors

Mi Familia Vota

Moms Clean Air Force Colorado Chapter

Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association

Natural Resources Defense Council

North Range Concerned Citizens

RapidShift Network

Small Business Alliance

Southwest Energy Efficiency Project

Spirit of the Sun

Stella Sustainability

The Green House Connection Center

Together Colorado

Unite North Metro Denver

Wall of Women

Western Resource Advocates

WildEarth Guardians

CC: Governor Jared Polis

Jonathan Asher, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Governor

Will Toor, Executive Director, Colorado Energy Office

Garry Kaufman, Director, Air Pollution Control Division

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