Group of attorneys general suing over new truck emissions rule

A group of attorneys general are working together on two separate actions against the recent truck emissions rule and California truck ban.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers is heading a group of republican attorneys general on two movements against the rulings: A petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting truck emissions, and a lawsuit against California for the phased-in ban on internal-combustion trucks. 

The lawsuit deems the California truck ban unconstitutional and states that it will hurt the entire US economy. The new EPA truck emissions rule will take effect for truck model years 2027 through 2032, while the California rule would ban tractor trailers and buses that run on diesel from being sold in the state beginning in 2036. 

Hilgers says that the EPA and California rules will “devastate the trucking and logistics industry, raise prices for customers, and impact untold number of jobs across Nebraska and the country,” reported AP News. 

“There’s not one trucking charging station in the state of Nebraska,” Hilgers continued. “Trying to take that industry, which was built up over decades with diesel and fossil fuels-based infrastructure, and transforming it to an electric-based infrastructure – it’s probably not feasible.”

States involved in Nebraska’s action against the EPA are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

States involved in Nebraska’s lawsuit against California are: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.