A new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency will require heavy-duty vehicles, like buses, delivery vans and trucks, to start drastically cutting nitrogen dioxide emissions in models starting from 2027. The EPA says the rule will reduce emissions of the harmful pollutant — linked to heart and lung disease — from these vehicles by 48% by 2045. Seventy-two million people in the U.S. live near major truck routes, mostly low-income and communities of color. Environmental groups say the measure doesn’t go nearly far enough and that zero-emission alternatives should be more aggressively pushed.
In another setback for environmental advocates, the EPA has delayed a decision on granting California waivers so it can set its own truck pollution standards to be stricter than federal ones.