Vehicle emission regulations mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States had been set to get much stricter in the coming years.
The GHG3 rule enacted in 2024 and slated to come into force in 2027 called for stricter greenhouse gas emission limits and required 25 per cent of all heavy trucks sold in the U.S. to be zero emissions by 2032.
However, all of that may change significantly after U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration announced late last month that it intends to remove all greenhouse gas emissions regulations on light, medium and heavy-duty on-highway vehicles.
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“EPA proposed to rescind the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding … (which) is a prerequisite for regulating emissions from new motor vehicles and new motor vehicle engines,” the agency’s website says.
It also said that without that finding, the EPA has no statutory authority to prescribe standards for GHG emissions.
“As a result of those proposed changes, engine and vehicle manufacturers would no longer have any future obligations for the measurement, control and reporting of GHG emissions of any highway engine and vehicle, including model years manufactured prior to this proposal,” the website said.
Canada has consistently adopted U.S. emission regulations for engines to streamline North American vehicle production.
U.S. trucking associations are publicly supporting the move and have previously claimed the Biden and Obama era emission rules were unattainable and would add significantly to the cost of new trucks if they came into force.
U.S. government lawmakers and officials announced the plan at a news conference in Illinois on July 29.
“With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers,” said EPA administrator Lee Zeldin.
“In our work so far, many stakeholders have told me that the Obama and Biden EPAs twisted the law, ignored precedent and warped science to achieve their preferred ends and stick American families with hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden taxes every single year.”
The EPA is accepting written comments on the proposal until Sept. 21. After that, it is expected to move forward to becoming legislation.
The move is likely to become the subject of lawsuits by climate action groups in the U.S.
Eliminating greenhouse gas engine emissions standards is consistent with other actions the Trump administration has taken to abandon climate mitigation policies.
The U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord and has eliminated the State Department’s Office of Global Change. It will not be officially participating in the COP30 climate summit in Brazil in November, which is expected to set a global climate agenda for the next 10 years.
At least one publication has reported that representatives of heavy truck and engine original equipment manufacturers have said privately that engines compliant with the 2027 regulation will be brought to market with or without the federal mandate.
