Regulations for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Commercial Trucks & Buses
Overview
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles - Phase 3
On March 29, 2024, EPA issued a final rule to revise existing standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles in model year 2027 and set new, more stringent standards for model years 2028 through 2032. The final rule, known as “Phase 3 greenhouse gas,” builds upon the success of two previous rulemakings, Phase 1 greenhouse gas and Phase 2 greenhouse gas, which act collectively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and engines. The Phase 3 greenhouse gas standards will apply to heavy-duty vocational vehicles (such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, school buses, etc.) and tractors (such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks).
This action, along with EPA’s 2022 rule setting standards to control smog and soot air pollution from new heavy-duty engines and vehicles and EPA’s 2024 rule addressing multi-pollutant emissions for model years 2027 and later light-duty and medium-duty vehicles, fulfill the intent of the “Clean Trucks Plan” (see below) and will significantly reduce greenhouse gas and harmful air pollution across the onroad sector.
Clean Trucks Plan
On August 5, 2021, EPA announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollutants from heavy-duty trucks through a series of rulemakings over the next three years. The first rulemaking of this Clean Trucks Plan was the final rule, Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicles Standards, signed on December 20, 2022 (link below). Two additional rulemakings, the Phase 3 greenhouse gas rule for heavy-duty engines (link above) and the rule for multi-pollutant emissions standards for light-duty and medium-duty vehicles (link below), were signed in March 2024, and the Clean Trucks Plan is now complete.
- Clean Trucks Plan.
- Final Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles - Phase 3.
- Final Rule: Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles.
- Final Rule: Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards.
Background
Phase 1 Greenhouse Gas Rule for model years 2014-2018: In September 2011, in response to a Presidential Memorandum issued in May 2010, EPA in coordination with NHSTA issued greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for medium and heavy duty trucks manufactured in model years 2014-2018.
Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas Rule for model years 2019-2027: In October 2016, EPA and NHTSA jointly finalized Phase 2 standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles through model year 2027 that will improve fuel efficiency and cut carbon pollution to reduce the impacts of climate change, while bolstering energy security and spurring manufacturing innovation.
List of Related Regulations
Below is a list of all regulations related to greenhouse gas emissions from commercial trucks and buses.
- Rule summaries;
- Regulatory impact analyses;
- Comment summaries;
- Rule histories; and&
- Fact sheets.*
*Note: Rule-related materials vary by rule.