EPA Targets Heavy-Truck Emission Rules for Likely Rollback

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reopening its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles rules as well as its Heavy-Duty Nitrous Oxide rule as part of a sweeping review of what an agency release described as the Biden administration’s “problematic” Clean Trucks Plan.

Along with actions targeting heavy vehicles, EPA stated it will also reconsider the Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles regulation, which was approved about one year ago.

EPA in a wide-ranging March 12 release said the GHG and light- and medium-duty rules were “imposing over $700 billion in regulatory and compliance costs, and maintained that the rules formed the basis of “the Biden-Harris electric vehicle mandate that takes away Americans’ ability to choose a safe and affordable car for their family and increases the cost of living on all products that trucks deliver.”

These were among 31 actions the agency is launching in an effort that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin described as “the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history” as well as “the most momentous day in the history of the EPA.”

We commend President @realDonaldTrump and @epaleezeldin for restoring common sense to our nation’s environmental laws and demonstrating bold leadership on this critical issue that affects not only the 8.5 million men and women who work in trucking, but all Americans.… — American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) March 12, 2025

Specific to the NOx rule, EPA said that rule — which dates to August 2021 — would result in “significant costs that will make the products our trucks deliver, like food and other household goods, more expensive.”

American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear in a statement thanked Trump and Zeldin “for restoring common sense to our nation’s environmental laws and demonstrating bold leadership on this critical issue that affects not only the 8.5 million men and women who work in trucking, but all Americans.”

Spear said, “GHG3 in its current form is unachievable given the state of battery-electric technology and the sheer lack of charging infrastructure. This rule has been an albatross for the trucking industry, threatening to reduce equipment availability, increase costs for businesses and consumers, and cause major supply chain disruptions.”

Trump EPA Announces Reconsideration of Burdensome Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program: https://t.co/LIFukXZaF3 pic.twitter.com/hHO5scIncn — U.S. EPA (@EPA) March 12, 2025

He added, “Crafting a new national rule will prevent states like California from attempting to make an end run around the administration, creating a patchwork of impossible mandates that would jeopardize our economy. ATA looks forward to working with the Trump administration to develop realistic, technology-neutral federal emissions standards that will benefit our environment, preserve and create jobs, and set our industry and supply chain up for success.”

He emphasized the importance of federal regulatory agencies establishing realistic standards in a collaborative process with industry. He noted that the trucking industry and EPA have achieved “monumental progress” over the years, as 60 trucks today emit the same amount of NOx as a single truck in 1988. “The trucking industry welcomes the resumption of this productive partnership with EPA,” Spear said.

The heavy-duty truck emissions rollback was included among nine regulations — such as Overhauling Biden-Harris Administration’s ‘Social Cost of Carbon’ — that EPA grouped into a category called Lowering the Cost of Living for American Families. Other efforts were nestled under categories titled Unleashing American Energy and Advancing Cooperative Federalism. Included were a revisit of a Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program that EPA said was not directly mandated under the Clean Air Act for the EPA’s data collection responsibilities.

“The [GHGRP] is not directly related to a potential regulation nor developed with that intention,” the agency said. “The program requires over 8,000 facilities and suppliers in the United States to calculate and submit their emissions reporting annually. It costs hundreds of millions of dollars that could be better used to improve and upgrade environmental controls or other items at these facilities to have a noticeable impact on the improvement of the environment.”

Zeldin also said the light-duty vehicle rule has been harmful to domestic auto manufacturing.

“The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration,” he said. “As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment.”

The EPA stated its reconsideration of the emissions regulations is consistent with President Trump’s executive orders and the agency’s new “Powering the Great American Comeback” initiative, which was announced Feb…