Washington to adopt California ban on diesel trucks

Published 4:05 pm Tuesday, May 9, 2023

By DON JENKINS
Capital Press

Owner-operator truckers in California are protesting a state law that would force companies to hire them as employees instead of as independent contractors.

OLYMPIA — Washington will follow California’s lead and ban new diesel trucks beginning in 2036, a governor’s spokesman said Tuesday.

The governor’s office was going over the rule passed April 28 by the California Air Resources Board and does not have a timeline for adopting it, spokesman Mike Faulk said in an email.

“We’re still reviewing California’s actions, but I can confirm the state plans to go through the process of adopting these standards,” he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency sets vehicle-emission standards, but can choose to adopt California’s stricter standards instead.

Washington lawmakers in 2020 committed the state to automatically adopting California’s standards.

CARB, a 14-member board mostly appointed by California’s governor, voted last summer to ban new gas- and diesel-powered cars and pickups beginning in 2035.

The Inslee administration immediately hailed the decision and enacted the same rule before the end of the year.

Reaction was slower to the ban on medium- and heavy-duty diesel trucks, but was expected by the Washington State Trucking Associations.

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