A federal judge in California issued a preliminary injunction at the end of October preventing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) from enforcing the Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) against heavy-duty truck manufacturers, including motorhome chassis manufacturers.
RVIA said the CTP is an agreement, signed by CARB and a group of manufacturers in 2023, that contains two key components.
First, CARB would ease certain regulations on heavy-duty trucks, particularly the Omnibus Low NOx rule, which would have set a California standard for NOx emissions stricter than the federal requirement established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Second, the manufacturers agreed not to contest in court several California rules that were affecting heavy-duty vehicles.
In issuing the preliminary injunction, the judge noted that CARB said in August that manufacturers could sell vehicles in California as long as they complied with the less stringent federal emissions rules. However, if they were not in compliance with the ultimate California Advanced Clean Truck rules, they could face retroactive penalties.
The plaintiffs in the case are Daimler Truck North America, International Motors, PACCAR Inc. and Volvo Group North America. The plaintiffs asked the court to block numerous other California regulations, including the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, which CARB has largely withdrawn.
RVIA said the preliminary injunction is likely to be appealed.
