Attorney General Marshall Announces Victory on EPA Filing After California Quietly Withdrew Waiver

For Immediate Release:
January 15, 2025

For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
William Califf (334) 604-3230

(Montgomery, Ala.) - Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has closed the file on California's request for a waiver for its Advanced Clean Fleets regulation.

"The fanciful policies of California will never work in Alabama. There is no way that every small business that works in California could afford electric trucks, some of which cost $400,000, not to mention the cost to install charging stations and the costs of maintenance," Attorney General Marshall stated. "My colleagues and I will always step in when California attempts to mandate nationwide compliance with its radical, unworkable, and destructive policies. Thankfully, reason and the rule of law prevailed this time, and in less than a week, we will have President Trump back in office with an administration that would never even consider such an expansive request by a state."

In September 2024, Marshall in a 24-state coalition filed a formal comment letter with the EPA opposing California's request. California's Advanced Clean Fleets regulation attempts to impose an electric-truck mandate on fleet owners, operators, and manufacturers-including trucking companies that drive one truck for as little as one day per year in California. Under the Clean Air Act, California cannot enforce Advanced Clean Fleets without a waiver from EPA.

The 24-state letter opposing California's waiver request argued that the EPA should not allow California to exceed its statutory and regulatory authority by implementing an electric-vehicle mandate that is sure to disrupt the Nation's logistics and transportation industries. Earlier this month, EPA granted several other requests that California made, but it did not act on California's Advanced Clean Fleets request. California withdrew its request by letter yesterday, and today, the EPA closed the file.

Joining Alabama on the Nebraska-led letter were attorneys general from Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

-30-