A coalition of California Republican state lawmakers is urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to hit the pause button on the state’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule after two separate fiery truck crashes involving lithium-ion batteries caused massive traffic disruptions.
On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, issued a letter to Newsom to “delay the implementation of your Advanced Clean Fleets mandate.” Signed by 20 Republican state Assembly and Senate members, the letter raises safety concerns about emergency crews’ ability to respond to electric truck crashes.
Lackey’s call to delay the Advanced Clean Fleets rule piles onto multiple hurdles the regulation already faces. In addition to several federal and state lawsuits challenging its legality, the rule has not yet received the approval from the federal government that is necessary to begin enforcement.
Lithium-ion battery fires shut down California interstates
The letter came one day after an electric truck crash shut down Interstate 80 for 16 hours and less than a month after a crash involving a truck hauling lithium-ion batteries shut down Interstate 15 for two days.
In both cases, first responders struggled to contain the intense fire caused by burning lithium-ion batteries.
On Monday, Aug. 19, a Tesla Semi electric truck caught fire on Interstate 80 near Nyack, Calif., about 50 miles west of the Nevada border. A portion of the interstate was shut down for 16 hours as emergency crews tried to contain the fire. The California Highway Patrol announced that trucks were being held westbound at the Nevada state line.
According to KCRA-TV in Sacramento, crews used “thousands and thousands” of gallons of water on a fire that reached 1,000 degrees. A lithium-ion battery has to cool down to 100 degrees before being removed. Cal Fire had to deploy air attacks typically used for wildfires.
CAL FIRE performing air attacks to keep fire under control. I-80 remains closed between Colfax and SR-20. No ETO. Check back here and https://t.co/ImyScHtthM for any updates.@CHPGoldRun @CHP_Truckee pic.twitter.com/wcSGjkIeYY
— Caltrans District 3 (@CaltransDist3) August 19, 2024
Two days after the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board announced it was opening an investigation into the crash.
On July 26, a tractor-trailer hauling six lithium-ion batteries caught fire on Interstate 15 in Baker, Calif. The interstate that connects Southern California to Las Vegas was shut down for two days, leaving motorists stranded in triple-digit heat. Detours on Interstate 40 were backed up for 50 miles. According to KVVU-TV in Las Vegas, the California Highway Patrol said the fiery crash involving lithium-ion batteries “was the first of its kind” in the U.S.
Advanced Clean Fleets not ready for prime time
In the letter to the governor, Lackey argues the two recent crashes reveal that the state is not prepared to deal with the unintended consequences of the Advanced Clean Fleets rule.
Republican lawmakers point out that there was minimal action first responders could take, because adding water to a lithium-ion fire would release toxic fumes. Legislatures say that in addition to disrupting travel and commerce, the I-15 incident “could have endangered lives and livelihoods.”
“The massive shutdown of a major California interstate illustrates that the state of California is not ready for your Advanced Clean Fleets mandate,” the letter states.
The Advanced Clean Fleets regulation requires that 100% of manufacturers’ sales be zero-tailpipe-emission trucks by 2036. Drayage operations, government fleets and “high priority” fleets with 50 or more vehicles are affected by the regulation. The California Air Resources Board’s rule took effect on Jan. 1 but has not been enforced, because the state must obtain a waiver from the EPA before moving forward with stricter rules.
Although compliance can be achieved through a variety of zero-emission technologies, manufacturers are putting their focus on battery-electric trucks. Lawmakers are concerned that the state is ill-equipped to deal with the highly disruptive nature of electric vehicle crashes and the health risks they pose.
“If one diesel truck carrying six batteries can shut down a major highway for 48 hours, what will happen when the highways are swarming with electric trucks powered by these batteries?” the lawmakers ask the governor.
DOT to address lithium-ion battery safety post-incident
The two high-profile incidents involving lithium-ion battery fires could not be timelier, as the federal government is scheduled to hold a stakeholder meeting on the issue in less than a week.
On Tuesday, Aug. 27, the U.S. Department of Transportation will hold a virtual meeting “to share information with the public on activities regarding electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion battery safety in post-incident scenarios.” Topics will include:
- Stranded energy
- Fire incident response
- Heavy vehicle consideration
- Damaged EV response
- EV water immersion
- Emerging battery technologies
For more information and to register for the meeting, click here.
Challenges to Advanced Clean Fleets
While state lawmakers are calling for the Advanced Clean Fleets rule to be delayed, other states and stakeholders are trying to put a permanent stop to the regulation.
In May, more than a dozen states along with the Nebraska Trucking Association filed a federal lawsuit against CARB and California Attorney General Robert Bonta seeking to end the Golden State’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule. Plaintiffs argue the rule violates the Clean Air Act and the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, in addition to ignoring the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.
That lawsuit was proceeded by three other legal challenges to the Advanced Clean Fleets rule. Last October, the California Trucking Association filed a lawsuit against CARB over the rule, which was followed by a similar lawsuit filed by the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce and Associated Equipment Distributors in April. Meanwhile, the Western States Trucking Association is challenging the rule in state court.
EPA waiver still pending
CARB has not enforced Advanced Clean Fleets rules since they went into effect on Jan. 1, as it awaits approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.
California’s ability to set emission standards stricter than federal rules is possible through a carveout in the Clean Air Act. However, the state must obtain a waiver from the EPA before moving forward with stricter rules.
Although Advanced Clean Fleets was finalized last October, CARB never received the required EPA waiver. A request for the waiver was not submitted until November. Consequently, CARB announced in December that it will not be enforcing the regulation until it either receives the waiver or a waiver is deemed unnecessary.
Per the regulation, all trucks purchased by drayage or high-priority fleets after Jan. 1 must be zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles. All new trucks must be registered. Although CARB is not currently enforcing the rule, it has warned fleets that any ineligible truck purchased after Jan. 1 will need to be removed from the fleet once the agency gets the green light from the EPA and begins enforcement.
On Aug. 14, the EPA held a marathon public hearing on whether it should grant California the waiver for Advanced Clean Fleets. Trucking stakeholders told regulators that the rule is “misguided” and “rushed.”
“All truckers believe in improving air quality,” said Jay Grimes, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s director of federal affairs. “However, Advanced Clean Fleets is an example of a rushed environmental rule that does not account for manufacturing lead time, practical vehicle market conditions and, in this case, operational feasibility.”
The EPA is accepting comments through Sept. 16. To submit a comment, click here or go to Regulations.gov and enter Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0589. LL
Land Line Senior Editor Mark Schremmer contributed to this report.
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