BILL NUMBER: S5931

SPONSOR: COONEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to postpone the implementation and enforcement of advanced clean
trucks regulations

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this legislation is to postpone the implementation and
enforcement of NYS's ACT regulations.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Outlines the provisions of the law. Delays ACT regulations
and enforcement until January 1, 2027.

Section 2: Establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:
              

The ACT Rule is part of a broader initiative by California's Air
Resources Board (CARB) that the DEC adopted through a regulatory proc-
ess. These regulations currently require that a certain percentage of
zero-emission heavy duty vehicles be sold for every diesel truck
purchased.

Unfortunately, the ACT Rule is nearly impossible for the trucking indus-
try to comply with because of a lack of truck charging infrastructure,
cost factors, and other challenges. Major infrastructure and budgetary
challenges must be accounted for before these policies are implemented
to prevent disruptions within the supply chain.

The State's highway system, and other major roadways, lack the necessary
infrastructure to accommodate zero-emission truck vehicles.  As of 2025
no rest areas along the NYS Thruway had chargers for medium and heavy-
duty vehicles. In fact, the Thruway Executive Director noted at a hear-
ing that while ten rest stops have been identified as possible
locations, electric companies have indicated the capacity levels needed
are also not sufficient.' The lack of proper charging stations would
obviously make travel across the state very difficult, and with electric
loads also insufficient to support any such charging stations, more work
on infrastructure is needed, which will take time. Routes would need to
be dramatically changed to locate the few rest-stops that can accommo-
date zero-emission heavy duty trucks, once they are available, yet with-
out these needed chargers, New York currently has mandates to purchase
electric equipment that is largely unworkable, given the massive lack of
medium and heavy duty charging infrastructure.

Battery charging times are also a challenge, and will remain so until
new technology emerges and is commercialized. Currently, an average
diesel truck can be refilled in about ten minutes and can drive for
about two-thousand miles where in contrast, a zero-emission heavy duty
truck takes approximately ten hours to charge and can run for about
five-hundred miles. Given the already existing lack of infrastructure,
plus the longer charging times, would result in trucks unable to effi-
ciently drive routes without encountering massive charging waittimes,
when a charger is even available.
This legislation would temporarily pause the implementation and enforce-
ment of the ACT regulations until January 1, 2027. During the pause, the
sale of diesel vehicles would also be excluded in future calculations
once the pause is lifted. This delay will hopefully provide the state
with the time needed for success, by giving more time for the installa-
tion of the necessary infrastructure to provide for a zero emission
mandate. New York would hardly be the only state to consider a delay for
infrastructure to catch up - similar efforts are underway in New Jersey,
and Colorado, Maryland and Rhode Island has amended its rule so that it
takes effect two years from now, similar to this legislation. As we
transition to a clean energy future, there is no point in putting an
entire industry at risk in the process; especially one that would very
much like for this to succeed.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

This bill will have no fiscal impacts on state or local governments.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.