A collection of global environmental groups on Thursday sent a letter to North America's leading truck manufacturers, urging them to abide by the terms of the Clean Truck Partnership (CTP) signed in 2023 – the same agreement Daimler Truck North America (DTNA), Paccar, International Motors and Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) filed suit against last month, seeking to have it tossed.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by CCJ, is addressed to DTNA President and CEO John O'Leary, Daimler Truck President and CEO Karin Rådström, Traton President and CEO Christian Levin, International Motors President and CEO Mathias Carlbaum, Paccar CEO Preston Feight, Volvo Group North America President and CEO Peter Voorhoeve, Volvo Group President and CEO Martin Lundstedt, and Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume. The letter calls on the OEMs "to uphold the agreement you made, and drop the lawsuit against California and align your activities in a major market with your global commitments to decarbonize your trucks."
“Truckmakers are breaking their word and ceding their market share to competitors," said Craig Segall, former deputy executive officer and assistant chief counsel of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) who helped author the CTP. "Regulators and investors everywhere should take note and demand better.”
The letter has 36 signatories, including Oregon Business for Climate, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Public Citizen and European-based Transport & Environment (T&E).
“What we are seeing in the US should ring alarm bells in Europe. Truckmakers that once proudly signed up to ambitious climate targets are now suing California to avoid the very commitments they negotiated," said Stef Cornelius, director of Electric Fleets at T&E. "If they are prepared to backtrack in one of the world’s largest markets, we cannot assume Europe will be immune. Slowing down now on the transition to electric would be a huge own goal and will put the competitiveness of our own truckmakers at risk.”
In a lawsuit filed last month, DTNA, Paccar, International Motors, and VTNA argue that when President Donald Trump in June walked back Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers related to California Truck Emission Standards (CARB's Omnibus rule) and California Truck NOx Emission Standards (CARB's Advanced Clean Trucks regulations), it also rendered the CTP moot.
However, CARB argues that the CTP obligates the OEMs to abide by CARB emissions regulations even though the regulations themselves have been revoked.
"By signing the CTP, the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) and individual members committed to complying with California’s truck emission rules, even if the state lost the federal authority to enforce them," the letter reads. "In return, signatories secured tangible benefits, including agreed-upon implementation flexibilities, long-term regulatory and market certainty, and new program designs that manufacturers themselves selected as a condition of the agreement."
Partnership under fire
Truck OEMs are not the only ones seeking to end the CTP. A week after DTNA, Paccar, International Motors, and VTNA filed their suit, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed motions to intervene in two lawsuits against CARB over the state’s enforcement of federally preempted emissions standards through the CTP, including the OEM's case. The other case in which the government is petitioning to intervene was filed by the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce against the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association and Steven S. Cliff, the executive officer of CARB.
The DOJ has already sent cease and desist letters to the truck and engine OEMs to halt compliance with the CTP and the emissions regulations the state is attempting to enforce through the partnership. In its motions, the DOJ stated that the Clean Air Act preempts state regulation of vehicle emissions unless the EPA grants California a preemption waiver. While the Biden EPA granted waivers for the two CARB regulations in question, those waivers were revoked earlier this year.
“Yet, in an affront to the rule of law, CARB seeks to circumvent that prohibition by enforcing the preempted emissions standards through the Clean Truck Partnership,” the DOJ said in a press release.
“Agreement, contract, partnership, mandate – whatever California wants to call it, this unlawful action attempts to undermine federal law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “President Donald Trump and Congress have invalidated the Clean Air Act waivers that were the basis for California’s actions. CARB must respect the democratic process and stop enforcing unlawful standards.”
