A broad coalition of state climate, environmental justice, and business groups known as New Mexico Clean Air welcomed the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board adopting the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII), Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT), and Heavy-Duty Low NOx standards at the conclusion of public hearings November 13-16. These critical standards will improve air quality and boost jobs and the state’s economy as they accelerate a transition to clean transportation.
The ACCII and ACT standards, proposed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on July 3, will provide New México drivers with many more zero-emission clean vehicles to buy. Together, the new clean vehicles standards will go into effect for model year 2027 cars and trucks arriving in showrooms. The clean vehicle standards will require 82% of new vehicles sold in the state by 2032 to be zero-emission.
Adopting these stronger clean cars and trucks standards is critical in addressing rising gas costs for families, combatting the climate crisis, and protecting public health. The measures will limit air pollution from vehicle tailpipes and require auto and truck manufacturers to deliver an increasing number of zero-emission electric vehicles, which includes plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs), for sale in the state. EVs and associated federal and state incentives will save consumers money over the vehicle’s life. ACCII applies only to new vehicle sales.
These standards guarantee that clean cars and trucks will come to New México.”
Ona Porter, Prosperity Works
ACT establishes annual zero-emission truck sale requirements that vary by vehicle type and increase over time. The Heavy-Duty Low NOx Omnibus will significantly reduce smog-forming pollution from new diesel-fueled trucks by strengthening the standards for nitrogen oxides and particulates.
The state adopted the ACCII standard through model year 2032. According to an analysis by ERM, they will cut nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and greenhouse (GHG) emissions by 80% by 2050. As a result, the standards will help prevent 73 premature deaths, 68 hospital visits, and 41,300 minor health complications.
According to ERM’s analysis, adopting the ACT and complementary regulations, called the Heavy-Duty Low NOx standards, will deliver more than $3.3 billion in total benefits between 2020 and 2050. That includes about $600 million in health benefits, including 51 avoided premature deaths and 28,065 avoided respiratory illnesses. Annual greenhouse gas emissions from New Mexico’s heavy-duty fleet will fall 39% by 2050.
The Low NOx standards require manufacturers to cut the emissions of diesel trucks by 90% by 2027, update engine testing and durability, and extend engine warranties to ensure that harmful emissions are regulated in the vehicles being sold in the state.
Air pollution from cars and trucks is the second largest source of climate pollution in New México, harming health, environment, and climate. Transportation pollution is a public health crisis in New México, disproportionately impacting lower-income communities, communities of color, children, elders, and anyone with respiratory conditions like asthma. Zero-emission cars and trucks are the fastest way to curb the transportation sector’s toxic air pollution and GHG emissions.
“I am grateful Governor Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque Mayor Keller have adopted common-sense ready-made policies to accelerate zero-emission vehicle deployment in New México to improve our health, protect our climate, and save us money: the Advanced Clean Cars and Trucks Standards. These standards guarantee that clean cars and trucks will come to New México,” says Ona Porter, clean energy leader and Founder Emerita at Prosperity Works.
“New Mexicans will be able to breathe easier, buy more clean, affordable vehicles, and help put the brakes on climate change with the adoption of Clean Cars and Trucks Standards. Updating sensible and achievable standards for cleaner cars and trucks would help address the climate crisis and improve public health by sharply cutting tailpipe emissions from new motor vehicles sold in the state while also saving New Mexicans money,” says Alexis Mena, New Mexico Policy Director at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council).
In the New Mexico rulemaking process, David R. Baake, Baake Law, LLC, and Charles de Saillan, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, provided legal representation for NRDC, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy, 350 New Mexico, Western Resource Advocates, Prosperity Works, Conservation Voters New Mexico, Sierra Club, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, Center for Civic Policy, Western Environmental Law Center, CALSTART, and 350 Santa Fe.
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