Court kills CARB’s reefer truck fee, but refrigeration unit rules intact

The push toward zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in the state under two separate pieces of legislation will take two similar steps at the close of the year: All new trucks registered in the state’s drayage registry must be zero-emission vehicles, a requirement under the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule; and operators of refrigerated trucks — but not trailers — must start down the road to full zero-emission technology, part of the TRU ATCM. The TRU ATCM also encompasses such units as refrgierated rail cars and containers.

In a question-and-answer document, CARB spells out the distinction it makes between trucks and trailers in the TRU ATCM: Truck TRUs are “diesel-powered refrigeration units that are mounted on or in a truck cargo box that is permanently attached to a truck.” CARB says that definition does not include detachable trailers.

The regulations regarding truck TRUs going into effect Dec. 31 are that fleets with four, five or six trucks must have at least one vehicle that is a ZEV. For fleets with seven or more trucks, 15% must be ZEVs.

This year’s requirements begin a progression that on Dec. 31, 2024, will ramp up to one ZEV for fleets with two, three or four trailers, two ZEVs for five- or six-truck fleets, and 30% ZEVs for fleets with seven or more trucks.

Mandates get stricter annually until a 2029 requirement. At that point, it’s effectively a 100% mandate: one ZEV for a one-truck fleet and two ZEVs for a two-truck fleet, rising to six for six and 100% for fleets with seven or more vehicles. (The CARB compliance table has one through six vehicles as separate categories but it’s all one rule by 2029).

As for trailers, containers and rail cars, no new operating mandates for refrigerated trailers go into effect Dec. 31 now that the fees have been put on the shelf. However, there is a new requirement impacting out-of-state TRUs that operate in California: They now must report their TRUs to the state.

No plans for ZEV refrigerated trailers

The TRU ATCM does not contain any ultimate zero-emission requirements for what are described as nontruck TRUs: trailers, rail cars and shipping containers. Instead, emissions from those sources are to be curtailed primarily through steps that went into effect a year ago.

A new particulate matter (PM) rule that went into effect Dec. 31 last year impacted newly manufactured nontruck TRUs. It required the diesel engines on those units to meet certain standards regarding PM emissions. There were also new rules on the types of refrigerants used in the units.

To help compliance with that rule, the state also has barred OEMs from selling into the state TRUs that don’t meet the PM standard, beginning with the 2023 model year. 

That requirement has echoes of the state’s Advanced Clean Truck rule, which is a mandate on OEMs and their sales of ZEVs into the state. The ACT and ACF are designed to work hand in hand, leading to a ZEV-only future by 2045.

To phase out older, dirtier diesel-powered TRUs, the rule also mandates that all TRUs of the 2022 model year or earlier implement a compliance method to meet what CARB calls the in-use performance standard — basically the PM standard — by Dec. 31 of seven years after the engine’s model year. As an example, CARB says a 2018 engine must be brought up to a PM standard for nontruck TRUs by Dec. 31, 2025.

That means that Dec. 31 would be a type of deadline for vehicles with a 2016 model year date or earlier if they are still on the road.

Court sees agency overreach

In the case in state Superior Court in Fresno that led to the suspension of the fees, Judge Robert Whalen ruled that CARB did not have the authority to implement such a charge.

“Taxes are often a hard, but necessary, pill to swallow when it comes from our elected officials,” Whalen wrote. “But at least with an elected official we can express our displeasure on election day. It is a jagged pill when the tax is imposed by an unelected group such as CARB, which the public cannot remove.”

“What, if any authority, does the CARB have to collect fees as part of their amendments to the [TRU ATCM]?” the judge asked in his opinion. “If the authority is not provided for by the Legislature and the Governor … it will not stand.”

In a letter posted to its website, CARB acknowledged the court decision and said it would not be collecting the fee. It said it would continue to issue compliance labels for TRUs that are compliant with the law but could not get it all done by Dec. 31. 

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