The American Petroleum Institute (API) filed a lawsuit on June 18 against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency’s new rules that tighten emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

In March, the EPA finalized new federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles, such as freight trucks and buses, with the regulations applicable to model years 2027 through 2032.

The standards vary based on the type of vehicle. Light-heavy vocational vehicles require a 60 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from previous standards by 2032. A 25 percent reduction has been set for sleeper cab tractors. To meet the standards, fleets must increase the number of zero-emissions vehicles in their operations, the API states.

The API calculates that more than 40 percent of work trucks used by model year 2032 will have to be zero-emissions. In addition, long-haul tractor fleets need to have 25 percent of their vehicles zero-emissions by this time, up from 0 percent at present, it said.

The API filed the lawsuit against the agency over the new rule, asking that the court “declare unlawful and vacate EPA’s final action.”


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