Former Senior EPA Air Quality Expert Responds to EPA’s Granting of California’s Waiver Request for the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2023

CONTACT:
Steven Fantes, Public Affairs Manager
617-817-1297 and steven.fantes@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org

Former Senior EPA Air Quality Expert Responds to EPA’s Granting of California’s Waiver Request for the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule 

Today, EPA granted California’s waiver request for the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule (ACT). ACT is a historic program as it is the first in the world to require manufacturers to sell zero-emission commercial trucks, including school buses, delivery vans, freight trucks, Schiller buses, and garbage trucks. It requires 60% of commercial trucks to be zero-emitting by 2035. 

The following statement is from Margo Oge, a volunteer with the Environmental Protection Network and former Director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality:

While trucks make up fewer than 10% of vehicles on the road, they represent 50% of nitrogen oxides and a quarter of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ACT will significantly reduce hazardous pollution and GHG emissions and will benefit the most disadvantaged and disproportionately polluted communities. In addition to California, six other states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, have adopted ACT. I believe that California’s ACT regulation will accelerate the deployment of zero-emission and near-zero-emission heavy-duty trucks globally.” 

Margo Oge is available to speak to the media about EPA’s approval of California’s waiver request for ACT and its effects on public health and the environment. 

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About Margo Oge: Margo Oge worked for EPA for 32 years and was the Director of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ) from 1994-2012. During her tenure, she was the chief architect of some of the most important achievements in reducing air pollution from the transportation sector. She is a ClimateWorks Distinguished Fellow, the Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Council for Clean Transportation (ICCT), and a volunteer with the Environmental Protection Network. 

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