California has abandoned a regulation to phase out diesel trucks and force a transition to zero-emission trucks as President Trump’s inauguration approaches. California’s Air Resources Board sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw its waiver request to enforce the regulation. “The California Air Resources Board (CARB) withdraws its request for a waiver and authorization, pursuant to Clean Air Act (CAA) section 209(b) and (e), respectively, for its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation, submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 15, 2023,” the letter read. “We have placed a copy of your letter, as well as this response, into the Air Docket at regulations.gov regarding CARB’s request. As a result, the EPA is taking no further action on the HD ACF waiver request (89 FR 57151 (July 12, 2024)) and considers this matter closed,” the EPA responded. "Great News… Good For Everyone" – California Abandons Regulations Phasing Out Diesel Trucks https://t.co/S95Ks8SaSx — zerohedge (@zerohedge) January 16, 2025 From The Epoch Times: Federal authorities agreed to some of the requests, but such related to the diesel truck rules were not yet decided. “California has withdrawn its pending waiver and authorization requests that U.S. EPA has not yet acted on,” Liane Randolph, chair of the air resources board, said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times. “While we are disappointed that U.S. EPA was unable to act on all the requests in time, the withdrawal is an important step given the uncertainty presented by the incoming administration that previously attacked California’s programs to protect public health and the climate and has said will continue to oppose those programs.” She suggested that President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration could challenge the clean air regulations implemented by President Joe Biden. With federal government approval of more stringent regulations uncertain, the board could pursue other methods of achieving clean air goals by partnering with private industry, as was done in the first Trump administration. “As CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo explains, in 2023 the California Air Resources Board voted to ban the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and require large fleets to convert all their trucks to zero-emission models by 2042. About 1.8 million trucks operate in the state,” CalMatters noted. Breaking: CA has decided to abandon its groundbreaking regulations phasing out diesel trucks and requiring cleaner locomotives because the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to allow the state to implement them. https://t.co/EEkrhMhjRD Alejandro Lazo Carlin Stiehl pic.twitter.com/SriyjablI4 — CalMatters (@CalMatters) January 14, 2025 “The California Trucking Association has consistently stated the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule was unachievable,” Eric Sauer, CEO of the California Trucking Association, told The Epoch Times. “We look forward to engaging all stakeholders, including CARB and EPA, to continue the trucking industry’s efforts to further reduce emissions in a technologically feasible and cost-effective manner that preserves our state and the nation’s critical supply chain,” Sauer added. California’s Air Resources Board sent a letter on Jan. 14 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, withdrawing its prior waiver request that would have forced a transition from diesel to zero-emission trucks in the state. The federal environmental agency responded to the… — The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 16, 2025 Per CalMatters: Trump has repeatedly denounced the state’s electric car mandates, and during his first term tried to revoke California’s authority to limit car emissions. In October he also said no state would be allowed to ban gas-powered cars under his presidency. Environmentalists criticized the withdrawal, including Paul Cort, the director of Earthjustice’s Right To Zero campaign, who argued that “diesel is one of the most dangerous kinds of air pollution for human health.” The withdrawal follows the air board’s decision in December to pull the plug on what would have been a first-in-the-nation initiative to increase electric motorcycle sales. WATCH: