California’s Advanced Clean Fleets Rule

In May 2023, the California Air Resources Board approved the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule. The rule complements the previously approved Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation: while the Clean Trucks Regulation will require manufacturers to sell a certain amount of zero-emissions trucks, the Clean Fleets Rule will require fleet operators to buy non-diesel, and eventually zero-emissions trucks.

The proposed rule consists of three different purchase requirements for fleet operators: 1) for private fleets with 50 or more trucks (including federal fleets and businesses with gross annual revenue of $50 million or more regardless of fleet size); 2) for drayage trucks operating from seaports or railyards and; 3) for state and local government public fleets.

In effect, the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule will ban the sale of new big rigs and buses that run on diesel by 2036. By 2045, the rule would fully eliminate the sale of new trucks that emit carbon dioxide across the state.