Western Growers Tracey Chow, Federal Government Affairs Director, spoke at a virtual public hearing on August 14, 2024, to urge that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not grant California the ability to fully implement its Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, which mandates the transition from diesel to zero emission trucks and other vehicles. In order to move forward with the full ACF rollout, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) must get a waiver of preemption from EPA under the federal Clean Air Act.

Chow stated that growers are invested in being part of the solution but that these regulations will require more time to implement.

Her comments can be read below:

“Our members are always challenged with balancing their ability to provide affordable, healthy food with ever-changing regulatory and consumer standards. We recognize that climate and air quality are big concerns for Americans, and we want to be part of the solution, not the problem.

However, there is not enough lead time for the necessary technology, equipment, and infrastructure to be developed and deployed, and there has not been due consideration to the cost of compliance. As such, WG asks that EPA not grant a waiver for the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Regulations on these grounds that are inconsistent with Section 202(a).

At the state level, Western Growers has engaged CARB on ACF since day one. We do not share the view that the EV supply is and will be sufficiently available and affordable for timely compliance.

For our extremely perishable foods, precise timing and delivery is more critical than most other food groups. The heavy construction of EV vehicles means less loads per truck, more vehicles on the road, and more time spent per trip. This makes the delivery of essential healthy foods more complicated and more expensive, and food prices will likely go up, not down.

The bigger challenge is the lack of charging infrastructure, which is even farther behind and even less within our farmers’ control. They have grave concerns they won’t have the ability to have sufficient power and stations to keep a future EV fleet ready. CARB itself has recognized that publicly accessible charging/fueling may not be available in all areas of the state. Farming operations are predominately located in rural areas -areas that are often passed over for infrastructure investment in favor of bigger, urban areas; so we don’t have confidence there will be the necessary power and systems in place to properly ensure compliance by our farmers.

There are still inconsistencies and vagueness about the rule that haven’t been sufficiently addressed by the state, and the existing exemptions and waivers aren’t clear enough to provide assurance to our members. Until and unless these and other challenges are properly addressed, we predict these regulations at this time will not put the state on a path to cleaner air, but a path for more confusion for farmers and higher costs for consumers.”

If you are a grower and have questions, please contact Bryan Nickerson at [email protected].