The Environmental Protection Agency has announced final national greenhouse gas pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles, such as freight trucks and buses, for model years 2027 through 2032. These new standards apply to heavy-duty vocational vehicles (such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, public utility trucks, and transit, shuttle, and school buses) and tractors (such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks).

The EPA said these final “Phase 3” standards build on EPA’s Heavy-Duty Phase 2 program from 2016 and maintain that program’s flexible structure, which is designed to reflect the diverse nature of the heavy-duty vehicle industry. The standards are technology-neutral and performance-based, allowing each manufacturer to choose what set of emissions control technologies is best suited for them and the needs of their customers. Available technologies include advanced internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

For heavy-duty vocational vehicles such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, and public utility trucks, the Phase 3 standards vary according to vehicle type and range up to 60% stronger than the previous Phase 2 standards for MY 2032. For tractors such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks, the Phase 3 standards vary according to vehicle type and range up to 40% stronger than the previous Phase 2 standards for MY 2032.

For example, manufacturers of heavy-duty vocational trucks (over 26,000 lbs. GVW) would have to achieve a further reduction of 13% of GHG emissions from the Phase 2 standards by Model Year 2029. This will increase to a reduction of 30% in emissions from Phase 2 standards by MY 2032.

Although applauded by environmental groups, the new standards have been attacked by the trucking industry as unachievable with current electric-vehicle technology and a lack of EV charging stations as well as current power grid capacity limits.