California Air Resources Board

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Background

Among other provisions, SB 1 states that as of January 1, 2020, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) must check that vehicles are compliant with, or exempt from, CARB’s Truck and Bus Regulation prior to being registered to operate in California. Separate from SB 1 provisions, CARB can also place registration holds on vehicles if they do not meet applicable regulatory requirements when enforcing the Truck and Bus Regulation. These processes help create a level playing field for businesses operating in California and ensure the emissions benefits envisioned by the regulation are achieved.

SB 1 also sets a useful life period for commercial vehicles, precluding CARB from requiring, via potential future regulations, commercial vehicle retirement, replacement, retrofit, or repower until 13 years or 800,000 miles with a maximum of 18 years from the model year the engine and emission control system are first certified. SB 1 directed CARB, by January 1, 2025, to report to the Legislature on the impact of the useful life provisions on efforts to meet State and local clean air goals.

To inform the development of this report, CARB staff entered into a two-year contract with University of California, Berkeley. The contract began in June 2022 and will explore strategies to further reduce pollutant emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. Specific tasks include: (1) a synthesis of current market conditions affecting truck ownership and scrappage, and (2) a qualitative assessment of policies to accelerate scrappage of old trucks and promote zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle adoption. CARB staff plans to include a summary of major findings of this contract in the SB 1 report.