On July 27, Pennsylvania joined 18 U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions participating in the Multi-State Medium and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) initiative released an action plan to help fight rising diesel exhaust pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the transition to zero-emission trucks, vans, and buses.

The coalition, which includes 17 states, D.C., and Quebec, developed the plan working through the Multi-State ZEV Task Force facilitated by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).

Jurisdictions include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, the District of Columbia, and Quebec.

The U.S. jurisdictions in the initiative collectively represent 43 percent of the population, nearly half of the economy, and 36 percent of the nation’s medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Informed by extensive engagement with a broad range of partners and stakeholders, the Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Action Plan includes more than 65 strategies and recommendations for policymakers to consider to rapidly and equitably

accelerate electric truck and bus adoption, including vehicle sales and purchase requirements like the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, vehicle and infrastructure purchase incentives, utility investment in charging infrastructure, innovative financing mechanisms, workforce development programs, and deployment of public charging in communities and along travel corridors.

Fossil-fueled trucks, vans, and buses are a major source of climate-disrupting greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and hazardous air pollutants that harm public health.

Exposure to diesel exhaust can worsen asthma, trigger heart attacks and strokes, and lead to cognitive challenges, and contributes to thousands of premature deaths each year.

Urgent action is needed to improve air quality and public health, especially in frontline and overburdened communities that are located near freight hubs and corridors and experience the most severe impacts.

At the same time, many underserved communities lack access to clean transportation options.

The participating jurisdictions are already moving forward to implement the plan’s recommendations.

In 2021, Quebec adopted a regulation requiring all new school buses to be electric.

Six states – California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington – have adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, which requires medium and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of ZEVs.

California, Massachusetts, and Oregon have adopted the Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Omnibus regulation to reduce NOx and PM emissions from heavy-duty trucks while the market transitions.

Other states are actively working to adopt these rules, and many have set targets to transition state and municipal fleets.

The Action Plan places a sharp focus on the need for a just and equitable transition for overburdened and underserved communities and workers.

Engagement with national equity and environmental justice organizations and community-based groups in the participating jurisdictions helped to scope and shape the plan, including its recommendations for community engagement, implementing community air monitoring programs, and supporting health and economic equity for community residents and workers.

The plan emphasizes the need for a “whole-of-government” approach across government agencies to ensure that transportation electrification policies deliver benefits where they are needed most.

The Action Plan also highlights the economic and job opportunities associated with medium and heavy-duty ZEV market growth and the benefits of multi-state collaboration.

Investments in ZEV technology cascade throughout the economy, creating jobs for thousands of assemblers, machinists, electrical technicians, civil construction workers, and high-skill occupations in design and engineering over the life of each vehicle.

The plan recommends partnerships with the trucking industry, community groups, labor groups, educational institutions, and others to develop workforce training and re-training programs, and identifies key labor issues impacting workers.

Click Here for a copy of the Plan.

(Photo: PA-based Mack Truck electric garbage truck.)

NewsClips:

-- Utility Dive: 20 States, Including PA, Push Ahead With Action Plan For 100% Electrification Of Medium, Heavy-Duty Vehicles By 2050

-- PA Capital-Star: With Millions In Federal Funding, PennDOT Charges Ahead On Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Development In PA

Related Articles:

-- PennDOT, DEP Highlight Commitment To Clean Transportation By Sheetz, Pittsburgh Clean Cities, PPL; Update On Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding  [PaEN]

-- Electrification Coalition Applauds PA For Submitting Plan To Build EV Charging Infrastructure Under Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law  [PaEN]

-- Pennsylvania Lawmakers Explore Latest EVs During Ride-and-Drive At State Capitol Event, Including Mack Trucks  [PaEN]

-- AP: U.S. Senate Democrats, Sen. Manchin Agree On Largest Single Investment In Measures To Fight Climate Change, Assess Methane Leak Fees On Oil & Gas Facilities  [PaEN]

[Posted: July 29, 2022]

8/1/2022