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CARB ACC 2 Regulation

On April 12, 2022, CARB issued a notice announcing that the Board will conduct a public hearing on June 9, 2022 to consider the proposed Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) rulemaking.  The ACC 2 rule proposes that manufacturers be required to deliver for sale increasing percentages of ZEVs and PHEVs as a portion of their overall product deliveries between model years 2026 and 2034 and reach 100-percent ZEVs in 2035 (and after). The Notice, ISOR, and all subsequent regulatory documents are available on CARB's ACC 2 rulemaking webpage.  Comments are due May 31.

CARB ACC2

CARB has announced a workshop for Aug. 11 where Staff will present an overview of the ACC II regulatory proposals on the LEV IV Regulation and the ZEV Regulation. Staff will also present updates on minimum technology requirements for ZEVs and proposed measures to increase access to ZEVs for our priority communities. This workshop will also serve as a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) scoping meeting to obtain feedback for the environmental impact analysis.

To register for the workshop, click here.

Regulatory and Legislative Tracking Reports for Vehicle Manufacturers and Suppliers

Since 1999, Kardos & Associates LLC has supplied the auto industry with the most comprehensive regulatory and legislative tracking reports available. We currently offer clients the following:

Motor Vehicle Safety & Emissions Regulatory Update (the REG UPDATE)

The REG UPDATE has been tracking US and Canadian regulatory activity impacting the auto industry for over twenty years. Regulations developed by the NHTSA, FMCSA, EPA, FCC, CARB, Transport Canada, and Environment Canada are the focus. For each rulemaking, the Reg Update provides a description of the rulemaking, comment deadlines, effective dates, a docket reference, and links to documents available online. Deadlines and critical path items are color-coded so that you can quickly identify what’s new and important. In addition to being an excellent tool for tracking regulatory activity, the Reg Update is a great archive of past actions. The report contains information on virtually every rulemaking affecting automakers from the past two decades. Approximately 400 pages in length.

U.S. Safety & Fuel Economy Regulatory & Legislative Update
The U.S. Safety & Fuel Economy Regulatory & Legislative Update provides a snapshot of the past month’s legislative and regulatory activities relating to safety, emissions and fuel economy. The report provides brief summaries of notices issued by DOT, EPA, CARB and others. With regard to federal legislation, the report covers newly introduced bills, information on committee hearings, etc. Activities at the state level pertaining to emerging technologies (e.g., automated vehicles, advance driver assistance systems, EVs and EV infrastructure, etc.) are also covered.

Federal Legislation Tracking Report
Our legislative tracking report focuses on matters relating to environment and energy, safety and fuel economy/climate change. The report covers two years-worth of bills (the length of each Congressional session) and includes summaries and status updates for each tracked bill. Links to bill text and related information are provided.

All of our reports are distributed monthly via email as a PDF. Subscribers also get access to an online archive of past reports.

For pricing, contact Dale Kardos at (202) 3064997 or [email protected]. For more information about Kardos & Associates LLC, see www.kardosllc.com.

For a PDF of this information, click here.

California ZEV Credit Balances

CARB has posted ZEV credit balance data as of Aug. 31, 2020.  The data includes 2019 vehicle production for sale in California of large volume and intermediate volume manufacturers.  2019 ZEV requirements are based on 7.0% of a manufacturer’s total average production volume of all passenger cars and light-duty trucks up to 8500 lbs for sale in CA for the 2015-2017 model years.  The report additionally shows transfer of credits between manufacturers for the period Sep. 1, 2019 to Aug. 31, 2020. There was only one transfer (6000 BEV credits from Tesla to Mazda). For a copy of the report, click here.

California Gov. Newsom signs order calling for ban on sales of gas-powered cars in California by 2035

On Sep. 23, 2020, California’s Gov. Newsom issued an executive order requiring the sale of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035.  Newson said that this is the most impactful step the state can take to fight climate change.  His announcement was made on the heels of one of the most disastrous climate events in California’s history.

According to the governor’s office, the executive order would achieve a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to mandating new cars to be zero-emission by 2035, the California Air Resources Board will also direct all operation of medium and heavy-duty vehicles to be zero-emission by 2045, where feasible.

The order also requires state agencies to partner with private sector industries to deploy affordable fueling and charging options for zero-emission cars.

For a copy of the Executive Order, click here.

Advanced Clean Cars II

CARB will hold a public workshop on Wednesday, September 16, 2020 to provide input on the development of the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulations, which will seek to reduce criteria and greenhouse gas emissions from new light- and medium-duty vehicles beyond the 2025 model year, and increase the number of zero emission vehicles (ZEV) for sale. Building on the May 2020 Board Presentation, staff will present current analysis and regulation concepts for modifications to the criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas (Low Emission Vehicle or LEV IV) regulations, preliminary proposals to support wider scale adoption of new ZEVs, and the preliminary staff projections of costs for future battery electric vehicles (BEV) technologies. Staff will request stakeholder comments following the workshop to be submitted to [email protected] through October 16, 2020. Staff’s presentation and an agenda will be posted prior to the workshop on CARB’s Advanced Clean Cars website.

This public meeting will be conducted via GoToWebinar. Participants must register as an attendee prior to the start of the workshop using the link provided. To register, click here.

Electric Truck Mandate

CARB held a workshop on Aug. 21, 2019 to get feedback on its draft regulatory proposal to require a certain percentage of trucks be electrified beginning in the 2024 model year.

CARB will accept informal comments on the draft proposed regulation through Sep. 21. 

CARB intends to issue a formal proposal in October with a 45-day comment period.  The item will be considered by the Board in December and then again mid-2020. 

Next year, CARB intends to develop a regulation to require fleets purchase the vehicles.  The fleet purchase requirements are to be finalized in 2022.

Colorado ZEV Mandate

On Aug. 16, 2019, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) voted to approve a regulatory proposal mandating ZEVs.  The amendment to regulation adds ZEV provisions by incorporating by reference the California Code of Regulations, Title 13, Sections 1962.2 and 1962.3 Zero-Emission Vehicle Standards for 2018 and Subsequent Model Year Passenger Cars, Light-Duty Trucks and Medium-Duty Vehicles.  The requirements take effect with the 2023 model year.  Regulatory language is available here.

ZEV regulation

A July 21, 2016 study prepared by Shulock Consulting for the Natural Resource Defense Council presents the impact of recent developments on the ZEV regulation. The study updates and more thoroughly accounts for factors that can affect the volume and types of vehicles required - such as manufacturers’ existing ZEV credit bank, rapid improvements in electric range, new entrants such as Tesla, and the effects of other ZEV credit flexibilities. According to the new report, the number of ZEVs required through 2025 will be smaller than originally projected in 2012 when ARB adopted the last major revisions to the ZEV program. According to the report, absent a strengthening of the program or a tightening of the ZEV credit structure, the ZEV program will deliver approximately 2.1 million electric-drive vehicles across the ten ZEV states compared to the 3.3 million goal. In 2025, this would translate to a market share of 6% of passenger vehicle sales in 2025 in California versus the 15.4% originally estimated, and 5.6% of passenger vehicle sales in 2025 in the so-called “Section 177” ZEV states.

The report states that automakers such as Tesla, even if only partly successful with its Model 3 launch, could generate enough ZEV credits to cover the entire auto industry’s ZEV portion of the requirements. The results indicate that the ZEV program may likely become “non-binding” as a regulation, and give rise to questions as to whether the program in its current form still provides the appropriate degree of technology-forcing pressure and will enable California to be on course to meet longer-term criteria pollutant and GHG reduction climate goals, as outlined in ARB’s 2016 Mobile Source Reduction Strategy.  The report identifies some possible regulatory options that make it far more likely that the program will result in vehicle deliveries hitting a minimum of 3.3 million across the ZEV states and reaching 15% sales by 2025.

For a copy of the report, click here.

ZEV Regulation

On Oct. 27, 2015, CARB published a notice announcing that it will hold a Board hearing on Dec. 17, 2015 to consider amendments to the ZEV regulation.  CARB proposes to amend the ZEV regulation to require each individual vehicle earning additional ZEV credits under the fast refueling provision to document use of fast refueling. The proposed amendment would be effective for MY 2017 vehicles.  A copy of the hearing notice, proposed amendments and related documents are available here.